Ignorance Only Works Once

I received an invitation to get involved in a business opportunity guaranteed to make me lots of money and give me all the free time I want. I know it will work, because all the people featured in the promotional material have everything they ever wanted plus time to spend with their family and church. Yeah, right! As I read it I laughed out loud, remembering how I fell for a few of these right after we got married. I quickly learned you can either make money or have a life of leisure, but you can’t do both.  Investing the same amount of time it took to make these businesses work in anything would result in some measure of success.  I quickly learned the secret was not the business but the willingness to work hard.

What really made me laugh out loud was remembering the mailing scheme we tried. I now know it was a scheme because the stern letter we received from the U.S. Postal Service after our first mailing explained the illegalities of our new venture in very clear language. It also spelled out the fines and prison terms associated with our get rich quick scheme. After confessing all my sins and reminding God how little service this good church-going boy would be to him in prison, I found out it was a form letter sent to all gullible people who fell for this scheme. It worked. I am proud to say I have been crime free for decades now.

In retrospect, we should have done our homework, but we did not. The resulting ignorance earned us a warning. Had we thumbed our nose at that warning and continued doing what we were doing, the consequences of our actions would have been severe, and rightfully so. Have you received any warnings lately? Has God shown you, as only He can, the blind spots in your life that are taking you down a path of pain and suffering. If He has, you can use the excuse of ignorance only once.

I always look back on our home business debacle as a vivid reminder of God’s grace and mercy. If you have made a mistake, big or small, and God has been gracious to you, learn from the experience. Accept His forgiveness and purpose never to go there again. To repeat the mistake when you know better is no longer an act of ignorance but an act of sinful rebellion. There is no such thing as a business that makes you rich with no work, and there is no such thing as sin without consequences. Christ paid a high price for our sins and prepared a path of forgiveness, hope, and restoration that leads right to His feet. May we all go there often and not down the lonely and desolate path of rebellion. 

Most Recent Posts by Mike Hartsfield

• Heroes Do Not Apply! - June 2nd, 2009
• Why Am I Illogically Irrational? - May 26th, 2009
• I Don’t Know Why I Am Afraid! - May 19th, 2009
• Is That What I Said? - April 14th, 2009
• I Mean What I Do, Not What I Say - March 31st, 2009
• Hold On To The Boat - March 17th, 2009