It Will Find You Out

The emergence of a piece of the space shuttle Challenger eleven years after the explosion had a sobering effect upon NASA, the astronauts’ families, and the people of Cocoa Beach, Florida. The timing was bad for NASA as it prepared for the opening of a new museum. The reminder of the tragedy was like “picking a scab” to Bruce Jarvis, father of one of the fallen astronauts.

Perhaps you have had a similar experience: some tragedy or mistake occurred in your life. You have tried to put it behind you. For a while all had seemed quiet and apparently forgotten. Then, suddenly, it reappeared, as ugly as ever, threatening to disrupt your new life.

A tough reality of life is that you reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7). In general, God tells us that if we live for pleasure, we will suffer corruption, but if we live for God, we will enjoy eternal life.

In this life we often pay a heavy price for our mistakes. Even if we have since changed our ways, the results of our past can haunt us. We should let that be a warning to our young people before they make decisions that will hurt them later on: Many things that we try to hide eventually come out in the open. Moses warned, “…and be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23).

We cannot change the negative side of the law of sowing and reaping. However, we can do two things: 1) Make the best choices so that there will be little cause for regret later, and 2) Repent of our mistakes and sins so that in the eyes of God we will be cleansed from all unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus will cover our past sins when we are washed in His blood (Rev. 1:5) in baptism (Rom. 6:3-4). Then we are to walk in the light so that we can have confidence in God’s forgiving love.

[This article was published on January 5, 1997 in the South Seminole Communicator.]