Judges 21:3
“And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?”
Have you ever watched a sporting event where someone got injured? I can think of a handful of times when I watched players with gruesome injuries. The networks rewind the play over and over again to show how the injury occurred. Though rewinding the play can’t change what happened, it can certainly help those who make rules that protect players know how it happened.
The story from the verse above is a very sad story. The children of Israel asked God, “…why is this come to pass in Israel…?” To find the answer to this question, one most rewind the story to the beginning. When you rewind the story to the beginning, you find there was one thing that led to one tribe missing in Israel. That one thing that happened was one person made a bad decision. That bad decision led to many people losing their lives.
The bad decision was made by a woman who left her husband to commit adulterous affairs. Her husband decided to go find her and bring her back home. In the process of bringing her home, he stayed at her father’s house who lived in a wicked city. The men of the city ended up taking her and abusing her throughout the night, and their abuse finally took her life. That incident led to her husband cutting up her body and sending it to the leaders of Israel. War broke out because of this event, and many lost their lives in this war. All of this happened because one person made a bad decision. It can never be stressed enough how one decision affects many others.
Years ago when I was a young child, my father started a church in Pueblo, Colorado. God seemed to bless this church from the beginning. Souls were saved and lives were changed because of this work. Sadly, one man became jealous and sowed discord among these young Christians. This discord led to a church split and many young Christians being disillusioned with Christianity. Today, the stories of most of the people who attended this church are sad. Lives were broken because of sin. Marriages ended in divorce. Children and grandchildren are living their lives in sin. When you rewind the story, you find it all started with one bad decision. One bad decision hurt many other lives.
If you were to rewind heartbreaking stories of broken lives, you will always find that it started with one bad decision. The drug addicted life started with one bad decision. The alcoholic life started with one bad decision. The broken marriage started with one bad decision. The life of crime started with one bad decision. The troubled life of sin started with one bad decision. Every bad result starts with one bad decision.
Friend, what decision have you made that is going to lead to heartbreak for many others? I know, you think yours won’t be like the stories above, but sin always ends up like these stories. You cannot make foolish decisions and it not affect the lives of others. Be very careful with all of your decisions. You never know the life-wrenching affects of each decision. Make your decisions prayerfully and carefully. Understand that each decision will influence many others. Make your decisions ones that will influence others for good. Instead of letting others rewind the bad, let them rewind the good and trace it back to you making good decisions.