What If

One day I was sitting with some friends and co-workers, we were sitting back reminiscing about our past. We talked about what it was like growing up in our households and our different family dynamics. Some of our parents were strict and some were not. Some of us were raised in two parent households and some had to split their time between two households. Some only had one parent because the other did not want to deal with having children. Also, we talked about high school and some talked about college. Some of us graduated from both educational institutions and others barely finished high school. Needless to say, we were different individuals.

One thing we had in common is that we made decisions in life that we have regretted! Decisions that created avoidable consequences. We all had some form of warnings that we ignored specific to the problems we created. Whether it was from:

• a parent warning us against hanging around people

• a teacher telling us to pay attention in class

• a coach telling us that working out is good for us

• the Holy Spirit telling us not to do something (some may say their conscious) or

• watching people make the same mistake before we made ours!

No matter the deliver of the warning, we still made the mistake. We did not listen or take head to the warning set before the avoidable mistake. This is not only common among my friend and co-worker, it is common in the whole World! We make the mistake then wonder "What if is would have listened or pay attention to the warnings?" So, start today by listening to people who have been through similar circumstances and watching the consequences of other people's actions. Just maybe you will not be caught asking "What if?"

Proverbs 5:7-14 MSG