July 22, 2011. A man named Anders Breivik woke up that day knowing he was going to commit what is probably the worst terrorist atrocity in Europe since World War II.  He first set out to plant explosives in Oslo which destroyed government buildings and resulted in the deaths of some people, and then he proceeded to the Utoya, an island where a youth camp was being held. He opened fire on the young people, killing 68 of them. The final death toll from his action was 77.
 August 6, 2011. Riots erupted in Tottenham, England, in reaction to the shooting of a man named Mark Duggan, by the police. What started as an angry response to that incident soon degenerated into the criminal looting and destruction which soon spread to other major cities in the UK.

I watched in disbelief as I saw people, trooping into stores and coming out with items which they looted. They looked so excited and happy that they had those things which they would not have been able to afford to buy at this time. It was however not enough for them to loot, they set fire to a number of stores as well effectively destroying businesses which were instrumental to putting food on the tables of some families.

About 4000BC, God created the first humans on earth, Adam and Eve. God gave the man specific instructions, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die. (Gen 2:16 – 17) It was not long that the test of obedience came. Satan came in the form of a snake to influence man to disobey God. Man succumbed and the rest is history.

Long before I ventured into the IT profession, I worked for many years in the accounts departments of a number of organisations. While studying for my first degree in accounting, we often had to deal with expenses falling under, Wages and Salaries. Although these are often used interchangeably, they are often treated in different ways. Wages are often paid on per hour basis and often to non-permanent staff. On the alternative salaries are paid to staff who are permanently on the company payroll.

It is therefore no surprise that the Bible talks about the ‘Wages’ of sin. Every human act has a wage assigned to it.  The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)  However there is a temporary satisfaction people get from doing evil. This is referred to as the ‘wages of wickedness’. This is what Breivik and those who looted and destroyed shops in the UK must have felt initially.

Within a short while however, the real wages of their action surfaces. They have now been arrested and facing various jail terms. Many of them are looking back and regretting the day they decided to take the course of action that landed them where they are.

We may all condemn Breivik, the looters and many other people around the world committing heinous acts, and rightly so, but do you know that we all are in danger of God’s judgement except we surrender our lives to God?  Hear Jesus speak, ‘I tell you no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish’ (Luke 13:3)

You and I may be free today but we have two choices ahead of us. God is offering us the gift of eternal life if we come to Him. The alternative is for us to enjoy the temporary wages of pleasure now and ultimately the eternal wage of death.

I hope like me, you will rather choose the former and not the latter.

 

StevePopoola
© Biblepraise Fellowship

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the owner of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org