Consequences

I have been a fan of the Denver Broncos since the mid-1980s.  In fact, for about a dozen years in a row I attended one Broncos home game a year with a few of my buddies.  On the surface that might not sound like much until you factor in two things:  We were not season ticket holders which meant that the price we paid for our tickets was usually two to three times the face value.  Additionally, we lived over 500 miles from Mile High Stadium.  Since football is played in the autumn and winter, this trek made for some interesting travel (have you ever experienced an eastern Wyoming blizzard).   The reason I bring up this factoid is that I have given up on the NFL this year.  You can tell by the preceding information I was quite a fan, but this year, I’d had enough and after Week 3 I was done.  Several years of frustration with the players, the game and the league culminated in my decision.  I didn’t send a nasty letter to the League or cry as I burned my Broncos sweatshirts, I just made the choice to stop.  I assessed their actions and my attitudes then came to a decision that I could live with.  I know the NFL won’t feel the impact of my boycott, but I have to admit that my Sunday afternoons are a lot less stressful (especially amid the season the Broncos are having).
Now, before you cheer me or boo me, this is not an article about the implications of whether someone stands, sits or avoids the National Anthem – the theme is “consequences”.  My NFL-less season has reminded me of a general principle of physics called Newton’s Third Law.  Simply put, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”.  Interestingly, this concept is present outside the world of science as well – in other words, choices  have consequences.  When we make a decision that results in an action, something else will happen.  Typically, good choices produce positive consequences, while bad choices result in pain, punishment or some other negative.  We see this principle played out in our everyday world, but its most serious manifestation is in our spiritual lives.  Actions do not exist in a vacuum, they have a very practical impact.  In fact, the wisest man of the Old Testament highlighted this principle when he wrote,
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.  For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
My battle with the NFL is insignificant when compared to the consequences of an adversarial relationship with God.  The choices we make in this life will dictate our eternity.  If we make good decisions and live according to God’s ways, we will be blessed, but if we invest our lives in pursuing folly or evil, we will be condemned.  

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