Investing in sin pays no dividends

We are told that in the end, "Difficult Times Will Come"

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."(1 Timothy 3:1-5)

I noticed in our local paper that pizza delivery drivers are getting assaulted in our small city. Now, pizza delivery drivers have always been targets. They know they assume risk when they take on the job. That fact is nothing new and not indicative of the end times, particularly. However, I did think that two assaults in one week were unusual. Our small city is not fraught with a lot of violent crime.

Then I read on Drudge that a Philly pizza delivery driver was shot and killed while on the job. I learned that it was the second driver killed in less than two weeks, which was apparently startling to that large city. The driver had been lured to a vacant lot by a false premise. He was shot and killed, left bleeding on the street and died en route to the hospital.

Curious at the coincidence of seeing two news headlines in the same hour on the same topic, and knowing the importance of Godly coincidences, I Googled around and discovered that assaults on pizza delivery drivers are way up. There seems to be some dark connotations as well. Past crimes against drivers had mostly been spur of the moment "crimes of opportunity" that are categorized as assaults or robberies with trauma but no bloodshed. However the crimes I read about this week were planned in advance and involved killings. Secondly I noticed that the gain from the robberies was paltry and pitiful. Robbers are killing for $39, or $21 in some cases. One delivery driver died because the killers stole 5 pizzas.

The law of diminishing returns comes to mind here. The pain is not worth the gain. "The law of diminishing returns is a classic economic concept that states that as more investment is made, overall return on that investment increases at a declining rate," until you are getting practically nothing in return. Sin is a classic example of the law of diminishing returns. The more you invest in sin, the less you reap. (See illustration above)

In the times of Noah, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen.6-7) The times are surely brutal when a life is only worth 5 pizzas. The Lord rendered judgment upon the earth in the days of Noah because evil trampled the earth and sin was abounding in every heart. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." (Gen. 6:11-12)

The Lord said that in the end times that the days would be as in the days of Noah. “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matt. 24:37). These unholy times will end, and they will end suddenly and badly for the unrighteous. Until then, I believe that the prophesied 'difficult times' have arrived. Pray for the lost, that God would have mercy on them and draw them toward the foot of the cross. It is only there that the law of diminishing returns is overcome, and the dividends are reaped in heaven.

----------------------------------------------

Athens GA
Second assault in a week on pizza delivery drivers
A man tried to rob a pizza delivery woman in East Athens on Tuesday night, just days after another employee was robbed while delivering to an apartment complex near downtown.

Philadelphia, PA
Pizza Deliveryman Shot, Killed During Robbery
2nd Pizza Deliveryman Killed In Less Than 2 Weeks
Investigators said Jacques responded to a call for pizza, but found the address was a vacant lot where the suspect(s) were hiding out. This is the second time in the last two weeks that a pizza deliveryman has been robbed and killed.

Atlanta GA
Pizza man robbed at gunpoint
A Pizza Hut delivery man showed up Wednesday night to an address in Austell only to find an empty townhome.

Greensboro, NC
Delivery Driver Robbed Of Pizza, Cash
A pizza delivery driver was robbed Wednesday evening after he realized the home he was called to didn't order a pizza. Greensboro Police say Lorenza Wyatt, 24, was making a delivery in the 2000 block of Spring Garden Street when he was told by the resident that they hadn't placed an order.