Well in Life, all Christian's make mistakes. Sometimes they are small, but sometimes they can be big and costly.
One of my biggest and most costly mistakes I ever made was when I decided to go vandalize Coke machines with my friends as a teenager. One evening my friends and I saw some episode on MacGyver where he squirts Salt Water in to a machine and shorts it out. So like idiots we all were wondering if it would work on a vending machine.
So we all pile in my beautiful 1978 brown Ford LTD we called "The Brown Hound". We head to our first apartment complex where we see 3 coke machines out in the front courtyard. They all jumped out besides me because I used the excuse I'm the getaway driver and I need to watch out in case someone comes. So some ten minutes goes by and the guys start running back to the car. They all jumped back in without any cokes or money. They were screaming at me, "Go, Go, Go!" So I put it in reverse and screech off like I was driving a Ferrari. So I asked them what had happened. They said, "We pushed all the machines over because the salt water didn't work!". I said, "You idiots. Why did you dump them over?". They just laughed and said, "We don't know!".
Then we arrive at the next apartments where I decided I would give it a try. I grabbed the squirt bottle and started squirting. Next thing I see is the machine flickering like I had just won the Wheel of Fortune Jack Pot. Coins and cokes were coming out so fast that they actually jammed the machine. So I took off my shirt and piled the cokes and coins in it. Once the shirt was full I saw a police car stop. The Police Officer could see me holding the loot. So I begin to run where I believe was the best escape route. I ran towards a 3 foot high fence that I knew could hurdle. I grabbed one hand on the top of the rail, and then I jumped for what I thought was freedom. When I was in the air I realized it was an eight foot drop off on the other side. As I landed on my face all the coins rolled away, and all the cokes went spraying all over the place. The police officer ran over with his gun drawn and shoved his foot on the back of my neck.
Well I'm going to spare you the rest of the arrest process, but I will say this, don't ever ask your friends to zip you up. Yes, I had put that orange jumpsuit backwards. I had no idea you zip it from the front. I just remember all my friends and my new jail officers laughing at me.
I tell you all this because mistakes can be costly. That Coke I never drank cost me $3,000 in attorney fee's, and damages that were done to the machines. If you have a teenage child I hope you will share this story. Maybe this will save them a lot of money and embarrassment some day.
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Have a great evening!
E. Talk