Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 22

Gold Nugget
Verse 8: "He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, and the rod of his anger will fail.”  

Although it may not surprise you, I am not normal. Yes, I was born with a deformity. It’s not something you could see, but I was born with what is known as a cervical rib - two actually.  They are an extra set of ribs above the normal twelve sets that you have. Instead of 24, I was born with 26. The extra bone pinched off the circulation both to and from the heart as well as pinched the nerve causing numbness. I postponed the surgery for years. In my early 20s the doctor told me it needed to be removed. At the time, I couldn’t take off work for the recovery time. His response was, “Pay me now or pay me later, but you will be back”. Well, he was right. I put it off for too long and finally had them removed.

Sometimes we think that ignoring an issue will make it fade away. The truth is, some things may be ignored or neglected for the here and now, but will have to be dealt with in time. Sometimes it’s sooner and sometimes it’s later. As today’s “gold nugget” says, "He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, and the rod of his anger will fail.” We think that issues in our lives (sin in this example) can go without being removed. The truth is, sin will cause many complications. It will cut off the flow spiritually both coming and going. It will even begin to cause numbness. We may think that because we don’t feel guilt that it must not be sin. We need to be quick to allow the Lord to perform surgery in our lives and remove the things that do not belong. What "cervical sin" do you have in your life? Maybe you should schedule an appointment with the Great Physician today.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the reminder today of the need to allow you to remove things from my life that do not belong. I am grateful for your instruction and correction. Amen

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