When I was growing up in central Ohio, it was not uncommon for there to be chickens running around in the yard. We would collect their eggs and take one from time to time for fried chicken or chicken and dumplings. Now, during the day, those chickens would scratch around in the yard, the pasture or sometimes they would venture into the edge of the woods. But, sometime in the afternoon, those chickens would begin to head back to their roost. They might wander far and wide, but they always went to the roost when evening came.
There is a verse in the Old Testament that says, “…and be sure your sin will find you out,” Num. 32:23. That is not a threat. It is not even a promise. It is just a statement of the facts. Just like those chickens that could be depended on to head back to the roost at night, you can be sure of the fact that your sins will come home to you too.
Dr. Pierce Harris of Atlanta, Georgia, once spoke at a prison work camp. The prisoner introducing him recalled earlier days of association with the minister. "Several years ago," he said, "two boys lived in the same community in north Georgia and attended the same school, played with the same bunch of fellows, and went to the same Sunday School. One of them dropped out of Sunday School because he felt he had outgrown it, and that it was 'sissy stuff.' The other boy kept on going because he felt that it really meant something in his life. The boy who dropped out is the one who is making this introduction today. The boy who kept going to Sunday School is the famous preacher who will preach to us this morning. Chickens do come home to roost.
Have you thought about what could happen in your life? Have you thought what the fallout would be if you fell into sin? Have you considered what might happen and what lives might be ruined if you took that fatal step and went away from the Lord into sin? Are you willing to pay that high a price? You never know who might be destroyed because of an indiscretion in your life! Don’t think for a moment that your sins won’t affect the innocent people around you. Don’t think for a minute that you can do as you please an affect no one else. You are deceiving yourself when you believe that! May the Lord help us all to count the cost and stay close to Him!
Many people are paying a high price for their sins today! Parents who lived in sin during the formative years of their children’s lives, but who are now saved, watch their children continue to stay away from the Lord. Some man or woman who gave into a moment of temptation now bear in their body the horror of a venereal disease. Others have squandered their lives for a time of pleasure and lost their ability to minister. Sin has the power to cripple you and destroy you, if you allow it to get a foothold in your life. Whatever you have to do to be free of your sin is exactly what you need to do!
Evangelist Sam Jones used to tell the following story:
“While I was preaching in a certain town, there was a boy who would come into the back part of the church and lie down and go to sleep. He was drunk. His father, who was a good Christian man, would take him home.
One morning after one of these experiences, the boy came downstairs. The father met him and said, "Hold on, Son. I want you to go to church with me and be a Christian." The son said, "No, Father, I do not want to be a Christian. I am not going to church. Please get out of my way, for I am going to town."
The father pleaded tenderly and said, "Son, your mother has slept little for nights. She is almost dying. You are killing us all. Please go and become a Christian like your father has." But the son glared at him and said, "Do you know who the man is who gave me my first drink?" The father answered, "No." Then as he rushed past him and out of the door, he angrily said, "You are the man, sir." The father said that if the boy had shot him through the heart, it could not have hurt more. Yes, we reap what we sow.”
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