A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
“Look down, look down that lonesome road
before you travel on,
Look up, look up and seek your Maker 
before Gabriel blows his horn.” —Gene Austin © 1928
Gene Austin’s plaintive song was a song of lost love and regret. But those words are a poignant reminder for you and me that decisions often have consequences far beyond what we reckoned.
Many years ago our phone rang early one morning. It was a member of our church, and desperation was in her voice. “Libby, the auditors are coming to my office today to examine our books and I’m afraid.”
“Why, dear friend?”
“They’ll find I’ve borrowed a lot of money.” “Borrowed”—is that a euphemism for stolen?
“I’m so, so sorry.” I answered. “How much is involved?” If it were a small enough amount, maybe my husband and I could loan her money to repay it.
“I don’t know, maybe a hundred thousand.” It turned out to be $200,000. “I really intended to pay it back, but now it’s too late,” she added. If she didn’t keep track of how much she took, had she really intended to pay it back?
“Does your husband know about it?” He is such a good man. This will break his heart.
“Oh, no! He’ll be horrified. He kept asking me where I was getting so much money, and I told him they’d given me bonuses at work. Oh, what am I going to do?”
“Let me pray with you now. Pastor Handford and I will get with you and your husband just as soon as you are free.”
The outcome of that true story, as you can imagine, did not turn out happily. Proverbs 4:23,25 warns:
Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.
Mark out a straight path for your feet;
stay on the safe path. Proverbs 4:23,25 (nlt)
Oh, King David, look down that lonesome road before you travel on! If you send for that woman, you’ll reap unimaginable sorrow: you’ll defile another man’s wife; you’ll murder a most loyal soldier; the baby will die; and your own son will try to kill you. Look down that lonesome road, David, before you travel on.
Traitor Judas Iscariot, look down that lonesome road before you connive with the Pharisees to murder the Lord Jesus! Are 30 pieces of blood-stained silver really worth the regret and shame you’ll face for eternity?
Poor, sillly Simon Peter, look down that lonesome road before you travel on. You told Jesus you loved Him and would die for Him, but before the cock crows you’ll have sworn He’s no friend of yours. He’ll forgive you for your disloyalty—He loves you that much—but why didn’t you look down that lonesome road before you traveled on?
May God help you and me, above all else, to guard our hearts, to recognize temptation and turn away from it, because the course of our lives depends on our choosing wisely, every day, every hour, every moment.