Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.

This is one of the mysteries or ironies of life. However, considered a little more deeply, it is God’s plan for spiritual and emotional growth. I am reminded again and again that God doesn’t want robots, He wants mature sons and daughters who choose to love and obey Him. The issue of delayed consequences is very real in civil society. When enforcement of laws is lax, as it has certainly been in some places, the level of offenses rises sharply. I have seen videos of people who were genuinely shocked that they were being stopped and arrested for shoplifting, for example. The devil hates mankind, so he does all he can to encourage evil. There are lots of people in the world today who seem like caricatures, they are so sold out to the devil and his plans for evil. The blindness of such people would be tragic even if it only affected them, but sadly, it affects those around them as well. The point, for those who know and seek God, is not to hate such people as individuals, but rather to hate the things they do, and work diligently to counter them. The world needs more and more honest police, prosecutors, judges, and politicians. As a British statesman said many years ago, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Just recently an incident happened where a man flipped out and started stabbing people. He injured 11 before righteous bystanders, one of them with a gun, were able to stop and hold him until police arrived. We need to be emotionally prepared to be such bystanders for all sorts of evil, so that evil may be defeated.

I’ve never been on location for a scene like I just described, but I have been present for all sorts of evil – and sometimes I was the perpetrator! As a parent, I had to learn that immediate consequences were far more effective discipline than anything delayed. At the same time, I have suffered for my own sins, sometimes immediately but more often some time later. This isn’t “someone else’s issue.” I need to remember that we never “get away with” anything, and so walk in consistent humility and obedience toward God. Sunday I spoke on how we are deceived into thinking evil is fun. I need to keep watch over my own soul, fully enjoying all the good things God has provided without veering off into the evil that surrounds me.

Father, life on this earth can be difficult, just as Jesus said. (John 16:33) Help me indeed fix my heart on Him and His example, so that I may live as Your agent at all times, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!