How far would you go?

     Several decades ago, after I had made covenants with God to obey His commandments but my dad had not yet done so, I was at my parents' home on a Sunday after church. My dad was getting ready to go into a wooded area to cut firewood- alone. I would have preferred he go on a day other than the Sabbath but understood that, as a self-employed builder, Sunday was a day he could afford to do something for himself/own family. I know the Sabbath is important to the Lord but I also knew having my dad in the woods alone with a chain saw (way before the cell phone) was potentially dangerous. Hence, I made the decision to go into the woods with him. I went home to change my clothes, climbed into my dad's old truck, and trudged through the woods to help him gather firewood.
     The covenants I have made are between me and God. Each of His children is responsible for his/her own choices. However, we cannot choose the consequences of our choices. Recently I heard a snippet from an item on lung cancer in which a young woman was saying something like, "So if I have spent years smoking, does that mean I deserve to die from this disease?!" To which I would say, it doesn't matter if you "deserve" it or not, it is a consequence of your own voluntary action. We cannot expect to jump off a bridge and not drown even if someone else jumps off a bridge and manages to swim to safety or get rescued. We cannot expect to have unlimited, unprotected sex and not expect to avoid unwanted pregnancy or STD's, even if that happens for others. Admittedly, there are accidents which seem very unfair. Excellent drivers get into their vehicles headed somewhere and end up getting killed on the road every day, through no personal fault. Also, we can't just sit in a bubble, afraid of catastrophe, never doing anything or going anywhere. There is risk in every breath we take and it's unavoidable. However, it is not only possible but very wise to do what we can to make sensible choices and that includes eternally significant choices. Not every choice is about how long we will spend as mortal beings. Lots of choices are about how we will spend, not only our time here on earth, but eternity; who we want to be.
     God is aware of the constant complexity of choices to made here. He is very patient and forgiving. It's not even a possibility that He might not love us anymore if we make bad choices. The risk is how we will feel about ourselves. The risk is spending eternity with those who want to make the same choices we do. How far we are willing to go in justifying our choices will have a consequence, especially if we do it over and over and over. It will form our character...... for a very long time.