Daily Devotional for Thursday January 13, 2005

The Lesson of Amber Frey

(John 4:7-26, 8:11)

Victim? Heroine? Role model? Harlot? These are the various labels different people have given the former mistress of convicted, double-murderer, Scott Peterson. You can?t turn on the television without seeing Amber Frey on every program, telling ?her side of the story,? in an attempt to sell the book she wrote (though technically it was written by a writer who works for the publisher). The media has played the willing accomplice in giving her a forum to sell her book and paint herself as a poor victim who courageously rose up to help convict her lover, causing many to label her a ?heroine? and ?role model? for young women.

Since Larry King, Sean Hannity, Matt Lauer, and all the others who have interviewed her don?t have the guts to hold her accountable for her choices, I will. Many have said her personal life is not an issue and should not be brought up. That is foolishness, since it is very relevant and goes to the heart of how she got involved in this case in the first place. After all, if she is willing to personally profit from the deaths of Laci and Conner, she should have to deal with the choices she made. The fact is, there is a great lesson for YOUR LIFE in the Amber Frey story.

Let?s lay the groundwork of Amber Frey?s past, not from tabloid rumors, but indisputable facts. The fact is, several years ago she chose to have sex outside of marriage, got pregnant, and had a child. The fact is, she was involved with a married man prior to Scott Peterson and helped to break up that marriage. The fact is, she had nude photographs taken of herself for potential modeling work. The fact is, she had sex with Peterson on their very first date and every subsequent time they met. The fact is, within weeks of breaking up with Peterson, she became involved with a man she is now living with him out of wedlock and had his baby. Again, these are not tabloid rumors, these are the facts of her life that those who interview her refuse to even discuss and she acts like they were perfectly acceptable choices. I am sad to say, that ?in the world? this lifestyle is not only normal but looked at as acceptable. Even sadder, it is being condoned in the church!

The reality is, the only reason we know who Amber Frey is, is because she made CHOICES to live her life in rebellion to God. She has no one to blame for being involved in this case but herself. Had she made the choice NOT to have sex with Peterson, she would have never been involved. Did Peterson lie to her? Of course, he was a married man cheating on his wife. The fact Frey had already been through this same situation with a married man, should have made her even more aware than most of the games a man will play to have sex with a woman. This was not a naive schoolgirl but a woman who was clearly looking for love and a father for her child.

What I find most disturbing about Frey?s choices is that on their second date, Peterson ended up staying the night at her house, and Frey allowed him to pick up her daughter from day care and look after her until she got home. She brings a man she barely knows into her home to spend the night and allows him to have access to her daughter unsupervised. THIS IS THE SAME MAN IT TURNS OUT KILLED HIS WIFE AND UNBORN BABY! She should be thankful that she and her child were not harmed in any way.

One of the interesting facets of Amber Frey?s story is the fact she claims to read the Bible, goes to a Bible study, and attends church. I can only assume her pastor, those she studied the Word with, were never successful in getting her to see that we can?t choose to live in rebellion to God and expect God to bless our lives. It also highlights a problem I share with you often, and that is, pastors who are afraid or unwilling to challenge people in how they live their daily lives. Pastors, you have ?Amber Freys? in your congregation every Sunday. Please don?t compromise, water down, or candy coat the truth of God?s Word or ever be afraid to call sin what it is . . . sin. It may save someone from making choices that will destroy their life.

I am reminded of the confrontation Jesus had with the woman at the well. Did Jesus tell her that it was okay to continue living the way she was? NO, He confronted her with her sin. To the woman taken in adultery he said, ?Go and sin no more!? You see my friend, when we are confronted with our sin, it demands action on our part. Sadly, we are living in a culture where sin is often overlooked even in our churches. It is a culture where those who live in rebellion to God are rewarded with million dollar book and t.v. movie deals and not held accountable for their choices but hailed as ?role models.?

The message that I want you to hear today, and the message I want you to apply to your life is that your choices carry consequences . . . often life-changing consequences. As I share with you often, when we follow God and His Word, life works. When we choose to rebel against God, there are always consequences. Does that mean if we will just follow God?s Word our life is perfect? Absolutely not. However, we can eliminate much of the heartache and pain we face in life that stem from of our rebellious choices.

I love you and care about you so much. When I look back on my life, if you look back on your life, we can trace many of the problems directly to the choices we made that were clearly in rebellion to God?s Word. Again, OUR CHOICES CARRY CONSEQUENCES. When we follow God?s Word, life works. When we live in rebellion to God?s Word, there are consequences for our rebellion.

I am asking you to pray today for Amber Frey. Pray that she will come to a place of repentance, ask God to forgive her for her sins, and find a real relationship with Christ. God is a loving God, a forgiving God, but we have to come to Him and ask Him to forgive us of our sins. When we do that, God expects us to turn from our sins and turn to Him. Sadly, Amber has been looking for love from men instead of first knowing the love of Christ. I pray that she will allow the Lord to be first in her life and help her find the true joy and peace that only comes form know Christ as our Savior.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will realize how critical, how life-changing the choices you make each day can be. When we choose to obey God and live according to His Word, there are blessings. When we choose to disobey God and live in rebellion to His Word, there are consequences. That my friend, is the lesson of Amber Frey.