Some good advice

I have a superior who often uses the phrase "All things reveal themselves with time." Really good advice...a proverb of sorts that I refer to often. There is of course the followup question, "How much time?".

This week I had a former superior get fired for what I surmise was inappropriate interaction with an outside company. The specifics don't matter, but the bottom line is that a code of ethics was broken and he paid the price. An interesting sidenote is that I observed the infractions firsthand and was very uncomfortable with my working relationship while in that position. He certainly had a hand in my "moving on". My decision, but a hand nonetheless. So in this case, the answer was about 5 years.

In another relationship, I lived with an individual who would definitely rival Jacob (remember Esau) in his deceiptfulness; no doubt in my mind he'd steal lunch money from a kindergartener and not feel a twinge of guilt. Over the course of decades, the game went on. Though the consequences for this individual still to this day haven't necessarily completely hit, there's been some sense of justice and for many around him, the cover is blown. In this case, the answer is decades if not more.

We've all got these situations in our lives. And many times it seems that no good deed goes unpunished while these types keep plugging along. There's some solace in seeing justice; not in the sense of getting revenge, but in the sense of seeing consequences for actions.

In the end, we've all got a payment to make...the Bible makes that clear. I'm relieved that much of what I've done WON'T be revealed in time. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So in my life, at least for my soul's sake, the best answer is an eternity.