Costly Decisions

 2/26/2022

Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will council you with my eye upon you."

A few years ago, when our family moved far north, my husband and I made a costly decision. He had been looking for a new job, and when he had an interview I went with him. We were both feeling very positively that God was leading us to this new area after having lived 19 years in rural New Hampshire. After Randy's interview, we decided to look at some homes in the area. We contacted a local realtor who lined up some houses we had seen online. We saw 6 houses that mostly met our needs, but as soon as we walked into a particular one, we just knew. It was a small, beautiful ranch with a large detached garage and an apartment for our son. (It also had 2 attached garages for the lower level apartment and the house.) We loved the layout and all the bells and whistles that it came with, and the neighborhood was peaceful and on the water. We couldn't have imagined a more perfect house for us. As soon as my husband was offered the position, we put an offer on the house. 

Now, we knew that the roof needed replacing; that was obvious from our visit. Everything else though seemed fine to us, but because we did not have a lot of time to inspect everything ourselves during our short time there, we hired (according to our realtor) the best inspector in the area. We thought we were doing well by getting the most expensive inspection that he offered. That, unfortunately, did not work out for us the way we thought it would. First, two of our three oil tanks were not to code, and obviously so. Secondly, none of the large double-hung windows in the house functioned properly. We did not realize this ourselves, and the inspector did not report any problems. We did try to hold the inspector responsible and get the realtor (who acted like our best friend) involved, but neither of them ever returned our calls. 

So, we had just moved, Randy had stared a new job, my sister was having a serious health issue and surgery, I was starting a new job, and I was trying to help manage my mother's care from a distance. To say there was a lot on our plates would be an understatement. We certainly could have sued the inspector, but we just had no energy to do so. Now, almost 7 year later, we are just getting around to replacing our windows, as we do not want to spend another spring and summer fighting with them. Well, it is going cost us big time! What should have been dealt with during the sale is now a huge issue for us that we just kept putting off. Not following through because of the business of our lives was a costly decision. 

Isn't this true with some of the decisions we make in life, especially spiritual ones? I mean, the single most costly decision anyone can make is to turn their backs on the Truth of the Gospel and the redemptive power of Jesus' sacrifice for all of humanity's sin. People that think they will get around to going to church, reading the Bible, or dealing with the truth of sin in their lives are making a costly mistake that can have eternal ramifications. To not accept the gift that Jesus so freely offers us has a much deeper impact, because He paid the highest price to give it. Unlike our expensive windows, His love and mercy is free to all who repent and yield to Him. We all must pay a price, either in this life or the next. Do not put off this decision to follow Christ, because I promise you, it will be a costly one indeed.