Tag: Cause and effect

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 34:15-16

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“Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the best explorations of the law of cause and effect currently on the market is the series of books, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Each book takes the reader deep into a thought-provoking exploration of piercing questions like, what would happen if you gave a mouse a cookie? Or a dog a donut? Or a moose a muffin? Or a cat a cupcake? Or even a pig a pancake? As you will soon discover upon reading one of these classics is that a whole lot of things will happen. The mouse will probably ask for a glass of milk to go with the cookie (who wouldn’t?). Then he’ll want a napkin and a straw and a mirror and all sorts of household adventures will potentially unfold from there until he winds up asking for a cookie, and the whole thing starts over. This is all silly, of course, but the books really do help young children begin to understand that like one domino striking another, actions have consequences which is an essential insight to have when navigating our way through this world. It’s an insight that lies at the heart of our passage for today. Let’s keep digging into one of the major guardrails God gave Israel for life in their new home.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 22:5-6

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“When a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed in, and then allows his animals to go and graze in someone else’s field, he must repay with the best of his own field or vineyard. When a fire gets out of control, spreads to thornbushes, and consumes stacks of cut grain, standing grain, or a field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution for what was burned.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

It’s no fun being held accountable for your actions. It’s awful having to be responsible for the choices you have made. This is true when we are young. Believe me. I know. I have kids. It’s not any less true when we are old. We’ll look for just about every way imaginable to get out of having to pay the piper when we’ve done something that carries negative consequences. The God we serve, though, is just. That means our choices have consequences. Sometimes the various laws Moses gave were complex or even profound. Other times, they simply espoused what should have been common sense. Let’s talk about one of those here.

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Morning Musing: Micah 7:9

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“Because I have sinned against him, I must endure the Lord’s fury until he champions my cause and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see his salvation.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you experienced the law of cause and effect? I suspect you have. You do one thing and something else happens. Cause. Effect. Sometimes this law works itself out quickly and obviously. Other times, though, the connection from one to the other is much more difficult to make. This is often because the path from a cause to its effect takes much longer to reveal itself. The challenge here is that when sin is a cause and its effect is delayed, we begin to think that it has no effect. But as Micah warns here, its effect will come.

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