Enjoy the Day! - Pt 3

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 ESV).

Nathan Hale elevated the term “regret” to a new high in 1776. Hale, at just twenty-one years old, was a captain in the colonial army. He was arrested by the British as a spy and sentenced to hang. His courageous, final words were: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” Regret is more often than not destructive. It is also a killer of our joy. Typically we may define “regret” as a distress of mind, or a painful memory, over something that happened in the past. It often reflects the thought of a circumstance that lies beyond the possibility of repair. There are also those times when it reflects a situation that is not beyond the scope of correction, but it hasn’t been corrected yet. I’m not sure Charlie Brown ever got to actually kick the football Lucy held for him, however he kept trying. As we continue this little series dealing with joy, we must come to a place where we learn to stop past failures from robbing us of our daily joy. Agonizing over the past accomplishes nothing. This is especially true if you are already in a situation that cannot be undone. Your time would be better spent moving forward in the direction of a better future. Look at every new day as a fresh opportunity to improve yourself. I recently saw a wonderful meme with a quote from Andy Biersack. He said, “When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sandpaper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end you end up polished and they end up useless.” When I think of the people in the Bible who could have been filled with such regret over their actions that they ceased to be effective for God and His Kingdom like Moses, who killed a man; King David who took another man's wife and then had him killed; The Apostle Paul who persecuted and killed Christians before His conversion; Peter who denied Christ three times, each of these people could have buried themselves in regret, guilt and shame if they did not accept the forgiveness and grace that God offered them. God’s desire is to create good in our lives, even with the sandpaper. This is at the heart of the Apostle Paul instructing us to “press on” (v. 14). I wonder if that might be where you are today? Accept the things that cannot be changed and press on! God’s desire for you and Jesus’ mission is for your life, and that abundantly!