"Unexpected Consequences" - 12/4/11
_ You all know what “side effects” are, right?
Side effects are problems that occur in addition to the desired effect;
generally an adverse and undesirable secondary effect.” Here’s what they are.
They are quite often “unintended consequences.” Did you know, for example, that Denny’s, for
many, many years, was open twenty-four hours a day? And since it was open all
day, every day, what would happen when they wanted to close the doors or lock
the doors. There were no locks on the doors of Denny’s restaurants since they
began in 1963. They couldn’t even close on Christmas.
They didn’t have locks on their doors until December 20, 1988 when they closed on Christmas Eve that year. One problem; no locks. Locks had to be installed on most of the 1,221 Denny’s Restaurants. [Found on www.highbeam.com “Denny’s To Chill The Grill, Lock The Doors For Christmas Holiday.”]. These are unintended consequences.
“The law of unintended consequences is at work always and everywhere. People outraged about high prices of plywood in areas devastated by hurricanes, for example, may advocate price controls to keep the prices closer to usual levels. An unintended consequence is that suppliers of plywood from outside the region, who would have been willing to supply plywood quickly at the higher market price, are less willing to do so at the government-controlled price. Thus results a shortage of a good where it is badly needed.” [Found on www.econlib.org by Rob Norton ‘Unintended Consequences’].
And, of course you know that email was invented in 1971. And so, everyone could email anyone anywhere in the world so long as you had a computer and could get to the internet. Except for one thing: soon emails were used for phishing, scams, worms, spyware, viruses, and ads. Today, it’s been determined that upwards to 73% of emails are spam. That’s over 40 billion spam emails per day [This is according to MX logic, found on www.the register.co.uk by Scott Granneman; see also www.thewhir.com Symantec Report on email spamming]. Some people call it quote “the law of unintended consequences.”
Please open your Bible with me to II Samuel chapter eleven and to the unintended consequences of David’s sin with Bathsheba. I’m sure that King David knew there would be consequences when he chose to invite Bathsheba to the palace. Yet, I wonder if he had any idea what the true unintended consequences would be. Please follow as I read II Samuel chapter eleven verse six. Verse five, as you know, is the turning point in David’s life as a leader of God’s people. He chose to sin with a woman outside his marriage and, as you are about to see, sin always has an amazing aftermath, verse six.
II Samuel 11:6 “And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. (7) And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. (8) And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. (9) But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. (10) And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? (11) And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. (12) And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. Go on to Page Two
They didn’t have locks on their doors until December 20, 1988 when they closed on Christmas Eve that year. One problem; no locks. Locks had to be installed on most of the 1,221 Denny’s Restaurants. [Found on www.highbeam.com “Denny’s To Chill The Grill, Lock The Doors For Christmas Holiday.”]. These are unintended consequences.
“The law of unintended consequences is at work always and everywhere. People outraged about high prices of plywood in areas devastated by hurricanes, for example, may advocate price controls to keep the prices closer to usual levels. An unintended consequence is that suppliers of plywood from outside the region, who would have been willing to supply plywood quickly at the higher market price, are less willing to do so at the government-controlled price. Thus results a shortage of a good where it is badly needed.” [Found on www.econlib.org by Rob Norton ‘Unintended Consequences’].
And, of course you know that email was invented in 1971. And so, everyone could email anyone anywhere in the world so long as you had a computer and could get to the internet. Except for one thing: soon emails were used for phishing, scams, worms, spyware, viruses, and ads. Today, it’s been determined that upwards to 73% of emails are spam. That’s over 40 billion spam emails per day [This is according to MX logic, found on www.the register.co.uk by Scott Granneman; see also www.thewhir.com Symantec Report on email spamming]. Some people call it quote “the law of unintended consequences.”
Please open your Bible with me to II Samuel chapter eleven and to the unintended consequences of David’s sin with Bathsheba. I’m sure that King David knew there would be consequences when he chose to invite Bathsheba to the palace. Yet, I wonder if he had any idea what the true unintended consequences would be. Please follow as I read II Samuel chapter eleven verse six. Verse five, as you know, is the turning point in David’s life as a leader of God’s people. He chose to sin with a woman outside his marriage and, as you are about to see, sin always has an amazing aftermath, verse six.
II Samuel 11:6 “And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. (7) And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. (8) And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. (9) But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. (10) And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? (11) And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. (12) And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. Go on to Page Two