So today is part three of this four part series where I'm inviting you into, and we're inviting each other into to join this elite group of super heroes, super citizens, super husbands and wives and moms and dads and high school students and middle school students and children.
Super people, men and women, students who are taking responsibility for their lives, their past, their present. And as we're going to talk about today, their futures, this elite group of people that understand that they're irresponsible, they're irresponsibility, eventually, there's no way around it. Their irresponsibility eventually becomes somebody else's responsibility. And these super heroes that we're calling the responsible, that you're invited to be a part of the superhero responsible.
They're like, I'm not having any part of that to for my irresponsibility to land in somebody else's lap. That is an epic fail. I don't go there. I'm not having it. The responsibles clean up what they mess up. It's who they are. They're the best neighbors. They're the best friends with the best husbands, wives, the best students, the best parents.
And you're invited to join that group. But to join that group, for us to join that group requires that we ask and answer and answer honestly a really important question, and we don't ask you to answer it once. We ask you to answer it throughout our life, in every season of life. Because in every season of life, this is the circumstance is change.
And the question is, is am I taking responsibility for my life? Am I taking responsibility for my life? Not the question. Is it am I a responsible person? You are a responsible person. You show up at work, you show up at school. You pay most of your bills. So, you know, if I were to try to accuse you of being irresponsible person, you can point to many, many, many areas of your life where you are a responsible person.
But our question is different. It's are you taking responsibility for your life? You're full responsibility for everything. You're responsible for your actions and reactions, your past obligations and your future obligations. And as I said last time, this isn't a Christian question. This isn't a religious question. This isn't a Christian thing. This is just a thing thing. This is just a people thing.
If you're not a if you have no faith at all or you come from a different religious tradition, here's what I know about you. You don't want your irresponsibility to become somebody else's responsibility. You don't want your mess to end up in somebody else's lap because that's, well, it's irresponsible and it's embarrassing. And you, you don't think of yourself as an irresponsible person.
So this is this is an all okay. This is for all of us. But if you are a Christian or somebody who's seeking to learn how to be a Jesus follower, like we're we're doing this a growing network of people all over the world that realize it's not just about what you believe, it's about what you do with what you believe.
If you want to be that kind of Jesus follower, then this is super important because as Jesus followers, not only are we forbidden from becoming an unnecessary burden to someone, we're actually commanded to look for opportunities to do the opposite. Here's what the Apostle Paul wrote. I mean, this doesn't get much clearer than this. He said this. He said, carry each other's burdens because from time to time we can't help but be a burden because things happen that aren't our father, that we're not responsible for.
And suddenly there's a need, and suddenly there's a bump, and suddenly there's a health thing that we're not responsible for. He said, hey, if you're a Jesus follower, I want you to be freed up, and I want you to have the margin to be able to carry other people's burdens. Implication don't become a burden unnecessarily. Don't create a burden to somebody else as somebody else has to carry.
And then look what he says next. And this is one of these statements that kind of slips through the cracks that if youwere raised in church, this probably wasn't front and center, but it should have been listen to what he says, he says. And in this way, in other words, by carrying other people's burdens, by having the margin to carry each other's burdens, because you haven't created a burden, somebody else has to carry you look at this in this way.
You will fulfill the law of Christ. Now everybody's heard of the Ten Commandments, the ten big famous laws. This little phrase right here does not get the airplay. It should. But this is front and center for all Jesus followers because the Apostle Paul coined this phrase. This was his phrase to to reduce or to summarize, Jesus knew command that he gave his disciples at the end of his ministry, where he said, A new command I give you.
The Apostle Paul calls it the law of Christ. There's not ten, there's one. He's Jesus says, you are to love one another. You are to value one another. As God through me has valued you. He said, you are to love one another as I, Jesus, have loved you. There's the golden rule, and then there's the platinum rule. The law of Christ is the platinum rule, and we're to live our lives in such a way that we have the margin to help carry other people's burdens, because we have not become a burden ourself.
And the reason he says, in this way, you fulfill the law of Christ because that's what Jesus did. Jesus did not put a burden on you. He lifted a burden from you. And that's what Jesus followers do. That's why we take responsibility for our lives. It's what Jesus followers do. It's what responsible people do. And then later in the same passage, he kind of doubles down and he says this.
He says, for each one should keep talking to Christians for each one of you that claim to be a Jesus follower, you should carry your own load. That is, you got to take responsibility for your own life, your own actions, your own inaction, your past, present and future. Instead of creating and not create a load for somebody else to carry.
Now, last time we were together, we looked back and we asked the question, are you taking full responsibility for your past, or is someone currently managing your mess from your past because you left a mess in their life? And we talked about what to do if that's the case, and we were very clear last time, it's worth repeating that yes, God forgives you of your sin and God forgives you for the messes you've created for yourself and others.
Yes, God absolutely forgives, but Jesus was so clear about that and he was so clear in saying, look, because your heavenly father has forgiven you, it's all the more reason to clean up what you messed up. In other words, that forgiveness, God's forgiveness does not release this from our responsibility for our past. It's just the opposite that taking responsibility for our past, taking responsibility for the messes that we've created through our actions and inactions and overreaction, is actually the appropriate response to God's forgiveness.It's it's evidence of this word. We don't talk too much about it's evidence of repentance that you've turned around and you're moving in the opposite direction, and you're embracing, perhaps, responsibility that in the past you've run from it. Demonstrate that we've truly had an encounter and submitted to our do what's best for others. Okay, so today, for the next few minutes, I want to talk specifically about your future.
And there's good news in there, bat is there. And there's bad news. It really depends on you. There's good news and bad news and the good news or the bad news is this your future is coming for you. It is. It's a freight train and it's coming. And the older you get and the older we get, the faster that train seems to be moving, doesn't it?
I tell people all the time, I'm like, I feel like I have three days, I have Christmas, then I have Easter, and then it's summer, and then it's Christmas and it's Easter and it's summer and then it's Christmas. And sometimes I just feel like there's two, right? This is my future's coming for me. Your future is coming to you.
Look up here refusing to plan for or refusing to take responsibility for your future. As much as you can predict, it is actually planning to be a burden to someone else, perhaps someone you love. So if you have to leave early, bottom line, don't plan to be a burden by being irresponsible and refusing to face the future that is coming for you.
Instead, we get to do the opposite. As Jesus followers, we're to plan to be a blessing to other people. We are to anticipate the future and make plans according to what we can anticipate about our own future. That sets us up to be a blessing to people and not a burden. And the best way, maybe to understand this is this your decisions, my decisions, your daily decisions, my daily decisions are like the steering wheel of our life.
You are steering your life in a direction and the direction. You're steering your life in that direction to some degree, not 100%, but that direction to some degree determines your destination. It's the I call it the principle of the path. The principle of the path is direction, not intention. Determines your destination direction, not intention. We get so easily confused because intention, intention.
My intent, my intent, my intent, my intent, your intent doesn't matter. Your intent and my intent does not steer our lives. It is our decisions which is determined by our direction. Our direction, not intention, determines our destination. So you are currently. You are currently steering yourself toward a destination financially, physically as it relates to your health, right? You're steering your life and direction emotionally, mentally, relationally, even spiritually.
So regardless of your age and regardless of your season of life, this isn't just for 25 year olds, regardless of your age, regardless of your season of life, we should all pause from time to time and ask this question. If this continues, where does it lead? If this continues, where does it lead? If this continues, where does it lead me?
If this continues, where does it leave me? And if this continues, where does it leave the people around me? And then we should adjust accordingly. Are you taking responsibility for your future or are you laying a trap for future? You? Early on in our marriage, Sandra and I memorized a verse of scripture from Proverbs, and I've talked about it before. In fact, she's talked about it with her congregation before.
So if you've heard this before, good. If not, I'm glad you're listening or watching or here today, Proverbs 2712, we turn this verse into a prayer that we prayed consistently night after night, week after week, when our kids were born. It's one of the first verses we taught our kids, even before they were probably old enough to be able to memorize scripture.
We just started early because this was such a powerful principle. Here's here's what it said. I'm going to kind of pick it apart, and we're going to jump to the New Testament and jump back to this for just a minute. But here's what the writer of Proverbs said. The prudent. That's the wise person. The prudent is the person that understands that life is connected, that today is going to impact tomorrow.
And yesterday is part of the reason that I am where I am today, that life is connected, the prudent seed danger or the translation we memorize from, says the prudent see danger coming. That is, they're looking ahead and it's like, oh, here it comes, the prudent seed danger or the prudent see danger coming. And they do something.
They respond to what they see, the prudent see danger, and then they take refuge. I remember specifically, one of our kids kept saying, refuse the danger, take refuge. And like, no, it's not refuge. That's different. Refuge. Right. But that'swhat that's what responsible people do. They see something coming. They acknowledge it, they admit it, they don't deny it.
And then they take appropriate action. They respond to or prepare for the inevitable. But there's another character that gets introduced because this is how the proverbs work, the danger and take refuge. But the simple, now, the simple are generally an Old Testament language where usually younger people look, you know, no frontal lobe development yet, so they're just having a hard time seeing how life is connected.
Right? The simple. But what I've learned and what you've learned, if you live long enough, is you can be older and simple, that you can approach your life as if life isn't connected, that somehow it's going to work out and somehow there's not going to be consequences. And, you know, it's just, he says, the simple the person that doesn't acknowledge that their lives are connected, that today impacts tomorrow.
They just keep going. They see day, they see the same danger. They see the same freight train. They they see what's happened to other people. And somehow they just keep going. And here's how they excuse it. I got this, mom, I've got this. I appreciate you guys sitting me down to talk about this. And I realize your concern for me, it means a lot.
You friends would, you know, have the courage to talk to me about this and confront me. But I got this. I've got this. Hey, look, I see what you're saying, and I don't think you're wrong, but I've got time, okay? I'm in my 20s. I'm okay. I'm only 30 something. I'm only, I've got time. I'll be fine.
And, you know, I think, you know, what the Christian version of, I've got this, I've got time. It's going to work out. It'll be fine. You know, the Christian version of this sounds like I'm just trusting God.
Now, the problem is, this is the end of the conversation. How do you say to somebody, well, you shouldn't be trusting God. You need to take responsibility for? I mean, it's like this just shuts down the whole conversation. And there's usually they they get this. I'm just trusting God for this. I mean, even as the pastor is like, all right, we'll conversation over you.Just trust God with that. Let me tell you what you should trust God to do, and this won't make sense to some of you, but I'm going to tease this out later.
Here's what you should trust God to do. You need to trust that God will not suspend the law of the harvest on your behalf. You should trust that God will not suspend the law of the harvest on your behalf. What do I mean by the law of the harvest? What? What am I talking about? This is so important.
We're going to jump to the New Testament real quick, because the Apostle Paul addresses directly the Christian, the Christian inclination to misunderstand our heavenly father and use religious language as a cover or camouflage for irresponsibility. And so to do that, he sets up one of the most often quoted and ignored principles in the entire Bible, certainly the entire New Testament.
Here's here's how he starts it off. Now remember, he's talking to Christians. So look up for a second. If you're not a religious person, you're not a faith person. A different maybe a different faith tradition, and you're not a Christian. This verse isn't directed at you, but I think you should pay attention anyway. So he's he's writing to Christians.
And here's what he says to Christians. He says, do not be deceived. This an interesting little Greek word for o, which means don't be confused. Don't allow yourself to be led astray. Don't look at these circumstances are these events and draw the wrong conclusion. Don't assume what other people assume about their indecision or their bad decisions and come to the same conclusions.
In other words, don't be deceived. And the reason he says, don't be deceived is because we are so easily deceived as it relates to what he's about to tell us. He says, do not be deceived. Then he doubles down. God cannot be mocked. In other words, if you think you are going to get away with something because you're so smart and so slick and so careful and so mature and so wealthy and so whatever it is, he says, you're you're you're crazy.
You can't mock God. You can't write God off as irrelevance. You can't write God off is, hey, I know what Jesus said, and I know Jesus is the Son of God, but I'm really smart. Okay? I'm really careful. I really got my act together. I am so resourced. I know what you know. I know what it says. I know what it says, but, but, but but the apostle Paul shakes his head and says, do not be deceived.
God cannot be dismissed. God cannot be mocked. He asserts that certain things in place, certain principles in place, universal equations. And if you ignore them, you pay. And a principle is different than a law. Just real quick a law. You can break, a law you don't break a principle, you break yourself against a principle, or you leverage a principle to your own good, but you don't break it.
You can ignore it, but it's still operating in the background of your life. So what is he getting that he's getting at people who think they will be the exception to this principle. He's talking to Christian people who think they can outsmart God. And here's what he says do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Here it is.
A man reaps what he sows. Only the men, women. You're on your own. You can do whatever you want to. There's no connection. Now you're thinking, I love the Bible. Now, in ancient literature, almost all ancient literature addresses men only. So Paul wasn't, you know, dissing the women. This is just the way they wrote. So essentially it means this.
Do not be deceived. God cannot be back. People. All people, we reap what we sow. And you know this. You've warned other people of this, you've seen this, you've experienced this at some level. And the apostle Paul says, yeah, but at some point we lose our minds and we deceive ourselves and talk ourselves into things and out of things, and we think we can outsmart God, and God is going to suspend this principle on our behalf.
Now, when my dad used to teach this, and he would teach this at home and he would preach the sermon, he would always say, in fact, I can't read this verse without hearing his voice say, people reap what they sow later and greater, later and greater. and later is why we're deceived.
Mom, look, nothing's going to happen. I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it! Hey, guys, I appreciate it, ladies. I appreciate you sitting me down and confronting me. But look, I've been in I've been involved in this for a year. I've been involved in this two years and nothing's happened. Nothing bad has happened. Later.Greater. Later greater. So we we get confused and deceived because of later. But you know what else? We're overcome and we're shocked over greater. Well, you know, if you if you've raised kids, you've told them life isn't fair. You're notkidding. Light fairness ended in the Garden of Eden. Nothing has been fair ever since. Okay, but here is where we get in trouble later and greater means.
The consequences and the benefits. It works both ways. The consequences and the benefits are always out of proportion to the input. I mean, the easiest way to understand this is the law of the harvest. Take any plant, consider the size of the seed. Consider the size of the plant. There is almost there's no correlation. There's there's no equality.
It is unfair. The seed is tiny. The plant is gigantic in relationship to the seed. It's the law of the harvest. So later and greater and the greater is shocking. I don't deserve this. I didn't see this coming. This is. There's no proportionality. Be warned. There's no proportionality. You should know this later and greater. And the language of the proverbs of the writer, of the Proverbs.
We are fools. We are fools to assume otherwise. This is why I said, if you're going to trust God, trust that God will not suspend the law of the harvest on your behalf. Irresponsibility has a consequence later and greater. So back to Proverbs 27 for the grand finale. You're ready for this. The prudent see danger and or this privacy danger coming.
And they take refuge. But the simple keep going and suffer for it every single time. but. When the simple keep going and ignore what's coming toward them and they get clobbered, they're not the only ones that get clobbered right?
They're not the only ones who get clobbered. The people around them, the people that surround them, the people that care for them, get clobbered as well, because their irresponsibility ends up well. Somebody played our irresponsible. I know I've said it 100 times, always becomes somebody else's responsibility. It's hard to play catch up financially. It's hard to play catch up physically with your health. It's hard to play catch up spiritually. And you know why? You know why? Because all these things are governed by the law of the harvest, not the law of the final exam.
You can cram for a final exam and pull it off and make an A. You cannot cram in the areas of life that matter the most to you relationally, financially, your health, your relationship with God in terms of the time it takes to develop that kind of faith, and the areas that matter most in the true small deposits over time make all the difference.
Small deposits over time make all the difference, and you can't go back and reclaim the time to make the small deposits. So. Are you ready to stop making excuses? Yes. Are you ready to start doing now? Are you ready to start doing now what you should have been doing all along? Are you ready to join this epic group of superheroes we've called the responsible?
If not, if you're like, Andy, I can't argue with you. You have a microphone on. I'm sitting here in the crowd and arewatching online. I can't argue because. But if you're sitting here and you're like, you know what? Okay, you're Andy, you're not all wrong. But I do got this and I can handle this. And yeah, I think God is going to take care of me.
And I think it's all going to work out. And I do have time. Here's all I would say to you, okay? If you're not ready to take this step, I'm recommending tell the people you will be counting on what you will expect from them. When you eventually reap what you are currently sowing, you should tell them. You should call them.
You should get them together and say, hey, no. The other day you warned me about and I said, don't worry about it. I just want you to know I still think I don't need to worry about it. But if this if you know, if what if what you think is going to happen happens. I just want you to know, guys, I'm coming to you for help, You should just tell them that when you eventually reap what you're currently sowing.
They should know what you'll expect. Look up here. And if you're afraid to do that, you need to think about that. And if you're not willing to do that, you need to think about that. Because if the roles were reversed and suddenly somebody came to you and expected you to pick up their slack when they didn't take your advice, how would you feel about that?
Isn't this just the wise thing to do? Isn't this just isn't this what people who connect the dots do? And maybe if you'll force yourself to do that, that one step of responsibility may lead to a second step of responsibility, where you take responsibility for your life. Now, if you're not a Jesus follower, I just want to be clear I have no authority to tell you what to do.
I'm just making suggestions. This is just good advice or good counsel. Or at least I think it is. But if you're Jesus follower, I'll just be blunt.
Irresponsibility is a sin. And here's why I say that. Because Jesus, he was so clear. Just follow him through the gospels and here's what you discover about Jesus. And then Jesus would say, if it hurts him, that's a sin, whether it's on a list or not, if it hurts her, it's a sin, whether it's on a list or not.
If it hurts you, it's a sin, whether it's on a list of sins or not, because God cares about you. And if you're irresponsible, he steals from other people, steals their time, steals their resources, steals their future, steals their retirement, steals their plans. If your irresponsibility steals from them eventually, of course, your heavenly Father who loves you and loves them would say, yeah, it's a sin.
It creates a burden for someone. It creates a burden for you and Jesus. Followers. We're burden carriers like our King, not burden creator. So again, don't plan to be a burden. Are you planning to be a burden by ignoring your health, ignoring your finances, ignoring what's becoming more of a pathway than a than a point of entertainment? Are you are you don't plan to be a burden.
Plan. Be intentional. Be proactive to be a blessing to the people you love the most, the people you would turn to if things go off the rails. Take responsibility for your future. It's what love does. It's what Jesus followers do.
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