No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on
this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to
reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through
Christ Jesus, is calling us. -- Philippians 3: 13-14 (NLT)
Søren
Kierkegaard, a 19 th century existential philosopher is quoted as
saying, " I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations -
one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is
this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both. " I expect as much coming from the man who suggested that
the human race had outgrown Christianity. In fact -- that is exactly what I
would expect from someone who thinks that humans have outgrown the need for a
Savior. The problem is that there are far too many Bible believing Christians
who struggle with the pain of regret in their lives. Sadder still is the
feeling that it is some kind of cross they must bear until Jesus comes and
takes them home. Nonsense!
Let
us all realize today that everyone could live with regrets. That is the nature
of humanity in a fallen world. Our lives are made up of choices. Some of those
choices are inconsequential and some are of dire importance. Some are big and
some are small. Some we will choose right and some we will choose wrong. Some
will determine the very course our life takes. We will look back on some of
these choices and wish we had done something different. Wish we had taken the
other path. This is normal. It is the pre-occupation with the choices and the
continuing pain we experience that is not the plan God has for our lives. How
do we know? Because the Bible tells us so!
I
look first to Peter, who had made the most regretful decision anyone could have
made when he denied even knowing Christ three times, despite Jesus predicting
he would. Here was what had happened after the third denial, where he literally
called curses down upon himself:
At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the
Lord's words flashed through Peter's mind: "Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning,
you will deny three times that you even know me." And Peter left
the courtyard, weeping bitterly. -- Luke 22: 61-62 (NLT)
Can you imagine the moment? You just spent three years walking with and learning under the man you know and believe to be the Son of God; the Christ. He specifically warned you that you would deny Him despite your bravado. Then He stares right at you, as His prediction comes true. Over the next few days you watch as He is killed in one of the most gruesome manners ever concocted by the devious working of the human mind and then buried. You never got a chance to say you were sorry. You never got a chance to beg His forgiveness. The last time He saw you was when you were denying you even knew Him, just to protect your own skin. If that is not a recipe for regret, I do not know what is. Yet how long did Jesus allow Peter to wallow? Now very long at all according to Scripture:
Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going
ahead of you to
Whose words are these? The angel
that greeted the women who went to the tomb on Resurrection Sunday! The first
order of business? Tell the disciples that He has risen and is going ahead of
you into
And God always has more for us to do and higher levels of
blessing for us if we are properly focused on Him in the here and now. This
brings us to the key verses for today. The Apostle Paul writing his letter to
the Church at
According to the verses, the first and most important step in dealing with regret is in to check where our mind is focused. Too often beloved we live in our past. We allow ourselves to be chained to our past. Bad decisions, bad marriages, lost loved ones. Things we wished we had done differently. Things we wished we had said. In Peter's case, things we wished we had not said. The only one who wants us living in our past is the devil. Why? Because he knows there is absolutely nothing we can do about what has already passed. All living in your past can do is rob you of your future. I do not care how old we get or our own negative view or ourselves and our abilities -- God does not see us that way. There is someone who can always benefit from our wisdom and our trials. The Bible says that God does not waste a single tear that we shed. Peter may have thought his future was over but God had so much more for him to do. He did not know it yet but he would give the first sermon of the church and see 3000 people saved in one day. He would go on to preach the Gospel and die on a cross standing up for His Savior.
That brings us to the second part of the focus. It is not just enough avoid focusing on the past. We must choose to focus on what lies ahead. The verses actually say we must look forward to what lies ahead. We need to anticipate the great and mighty works God wants to do through us. The human mind is apt to wander. If we sit alone long enough it will wander into areas we do not want it to, such as areas of regret. We must choose to focus on the future; trusting the God we serve will be faithful to complete what He has started!
The last part of not living in regret is action. The first two parts deal with our focus and our thought life but now we see that we must actually do something. We must "press on" into the future God has for us. Too often we can sit idly by and claim we are waiting on the Lord and sometimes God does want us to be still. But more often than not He is waiting for us to move in faith. Paul was in chains, surrounded by Roman soldiers. If anyone had cause to say it was over -- it was Paul. Instead though, he recognized that he needed to press on, so he wrote his letters extensively and witnessed to the very people who were imprisoning him! He had no idea when he penned the letters that they would become the New Testament! Think about that for a minute. When we are busy about the Lord's business we may not know what fruit might be borne later on for our pressing on.
Beloved there is nothing you can do about your past except learn from it. Regret will consume your present and blind you from your future. God has something better for you! Jesus said He came to give you the abundant life now! That abundant life is not filled with regret it is filled with blessings. The very thing that you regret is the very thing that Jesus died on an old wooden cross for. He wants to take it from you today. Focus in anticipation towards what God has for you in the future and press on into it!
Rev. Anthony
