Wisdom of the week

Enjoy this week's devotional!

Monday, August 31, 2026

"THE EFFECT OF CHOICES"

     We have been overrun with wild turkeys in our community and have several "rafters" of them living in our area. They often have more than one clutch of poults each spring and summer and so multiply like crazy.  They get in our backyard to raid the bird feeders and dig up the ground until we chase them out. Recently they have been "picking" our crabapples. One or two of the turkeys get up in the tree and knock the apples down to the others on the ground. The whitetail deer that live in the neighborhood are also thrilled to get in on the feast and gather beneath the tree.

     Wild turkeys were not native to Montana. Merriam wild turkeys were officially introduced to Montana in 1954 by state biologists who released 13 from Colorado into the Judith Mountains of central Montana. In 1955, 18 from Wyoming were released in southeastern Montana and then 26 more in 1956-57. Subsequent state trapping and relocating programs distributed the birds to numerous other sites around the state. Some Eastern wild turkeys were also illegally introduced into northwest Montana in the 1970's.  While providing hunting enjoyment for some, they have become a real problem in urban areas and outlying districts such as ours in the Libby area.

     At least wild turkeys were native to the United States, but a number of birds and animals were brought here from other parts of the world and some have multiplied and become major ecological and agricultural problems. On that list are European starlings, house sparrows, rock pigeons and nutria. An admirer of Shakespeare released 60 starlings into Central Park in the 1890's in an attempt to "populate the American landscape with all birds mentioned by the bard." They now occupy all of the continental United States, with an estimate of nearly 50 million birds. They cause an estimated $800 million in crop damage each year in the United States, not to mention that they often evict native song birds from their nests and their droppings provide a growth medium for a fungus that causes lung infections in humans!

     The nutria, a large, aggressive rodent, came from South America for fur trade, but it now destroys vast areas of marshland, wetlands, and shore banks with its tunnel digging.  Giant Burmese Pythons from Southeast Asia were brought to Florida via pet trade. Many ended up being released and now a large number occupy the Everglades where they have devastated small mammal populations. 

     All that to say, the choices we make often have long-lasting ramifications, and not all for the good!  Most often, we have no idea how many people and places and generations may be affected by the choices we make. I think back about 6,000 years to the choice made by Adam and Eve to disobey God's clear command: "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:16,17). God created man with a free will to make choices, but warned that those choices have consequences, which are explained in more detail in Gen. 3:13-19. Obviously, we continue to be affected by the choice Adam and Eve made to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the believers in Rome, said: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Ro. 5:12). We have, in fact, a law of science that observes the results of the Fall of man in the Garden. It is called the  Second Law of Thermodynamics, "the law of increasing entropy," that basically says "everything will wind down, wear out, decay, and ultimately die; things will become more random rather than more complex; natural events only go in one direction (You can't unburn a candle or unbreak a broken glass)."  Science is actually acknowledging the curse of sin upon the earth as a result of sin. As Paul also wrote to the Romans: "The wages of sin is death..." (Ro. 6:23a).  All of this is the effect of a bad choice by the first couple on earth!  The "first Adam," made from the dust of the ground, through his disobedience, brought sin, evil, condemnation and death to all humanity.

     But there is "good news." The "last Adam," Jesus Christ, God the Son, came from heaven, lived a sinless life,  and through His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection, paid for sin's penalty, conquered death, and offers righteousness, justification, and eternal life to all who will believe, and one day will remove the curse that resulted from sin, and transform our mortal bodies into glorified bodies like His resurrection body (I Cor. 15:45-52).  After Paul wrote "The wages of sin is death...," he continues, saying, "...but the gift of God is eternal life" (Ro. 6:23b). Just as the "first Adam" made a choice that affected all of mankind, "infecting" us with a sin nature and death, so, the "last Adam/second man" chose to willingly lay down His life for us as a substitute (Jn. 10:11,18). By His choice, "we (who believe) have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10). As Jesus faced the agony of the Cross and bearing the penalty of our sins, He could have decided we weren't worth it. "He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free, but He (chose to) died alone for you and me."  So, "through the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, even so, through the obedience of the One, the many (who receive Him) will be made righteous" (Ro. 5:19). 

     Being made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26,27), we have a free will to make choices, but those choices will have an affect, not only on our future, but very likely on the future of many others as well. I think of choices made by King David who followed the lust of his flesh and took Bathsheba as his wife. I think of the choice Joseph's brothers made to sell him into slavery and of the choice Joseph made not to seek revenge. I think of the choice Abraham had to have a son through the handmaid, Hagar. (Just think of the ongoing consequences of that decision!)

     So, think through the ramifications of your decisions carefully, for the effect of our choices can be far reaching.

Forever His,
Pastor Dave N