Think Before You Act
But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. – Matthew 26:50-52 NKJV.
We know from another gospel that it was Peter who swung the sword cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest. The man probably deserved to have his head cut off, which was likely what Peter was attempting to do. Not sure what Peter was thinking, since the disciples only had the one sword. You could say that Peter was a little impulsive. From another gospel we know that Jesus touched the man and healed the ear. That should have been enough for all of those who came out to arrest Jesus to have turned and went back home. However, even seeing a miracle will not stop some from committing evil.
30-year-old Holly Albert was determined to go to her yoga class, and she wanted her mother to drive her to the class. Holly’s mother refused, which made Holly go a little crazy shouting insults at her mother. She then grabbed up a phone throwing and hitting her mother in the head. The mother used the phone to call 911, and the police did respond; arresting Holly for assault, which could result in her having to serve several years in prison. Why did Holly want to go to the yoga class so badly? She wanted to meditate.
The title of the devotional could have been: Think before you do something stupid and ruin your life. How many lives have been ruined by just a moment of impulsiveness? Millions? Open up any newspaper, listen to almost any local news program and you will hear about someone who has messed up their life in a moment of impulsiveness.
It doesn’t have to be that way! At least not for a believer. If you are a child of God, you have the tools to keep you from impulsively making wrong decisions. You have the Word of God, you can go boldly to throne of God Almighty in the Name of Jesus and ask for help, you have the presence of Holy Spirit dwelling within you restraining you from evil, and you have other believers who are more than willing to help you if you ask for help.
Before you do something crazy, take a moment to consider what the consequences are. Take a moment to cry out to Jesus for help. God says this: “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver You (Psalm 50:15).” Let God help you!