No Regrets

The other day, my oldest got in trouble for playing too rough. As we discussed his consequence, he hung his head, closed his eyes, and bemoaned, "I wish I hadn’t done that. I wish I could go back in time and not do it."

The regret in his tone resonated with something deep inside of me. I know what regret feels like. I think most of us do. It seems nearly impossible to go through life without any regrets at all.

Regrets over things we’ve done but wish we hadn’t. Regrets over things we didn’t do but wish we had. Regrets over missed opportunities or situations not turning out the way we had planned or hoped.

Regret.

Unfortunately, time travel is not an option. Undoing what’s already done is impossible. We can only continue forward with the consequences - good or bad - of our past decisions. We can try to make things right... sometimes that might work.

Sometimes, it's too late.

“Life is about choices. Some we regret, some we're proud of. Some will haunt us forever. The message: we are what we chose to be.” (Graham Brown)

The very first time I was invited to preach from a pulpit, I shared a message about choices. I shared how we are often told in Church that the most important choice we will ever make in life is to follow Jesus or to reject Him.

I noted in my sermon that this statement is… incomplete. Incomplete because choosing Jesus isn’t only a one-time thing through reciting a superstitious prayer. It’s a lifetime decision. It’s a series of choices - hundreds, thousands maybe, every day - of choosing to continue to follow Jesus. Choosing Him above ourselves and our own selfish pursuits.

I’ve come to believe more and more that being a Christian is a lot more than a prayer, attendance on Sundays, and wearing a cross. It's more than what holidays we celebrate, or what traditions we follow, or how we vote, or what we stand against.

Being a Christian is striving every day to be more like Christ. To love like Jesus. To serve like Jesus. To sacrifice like Jesus. To be His hands and feet to those in need.

The call of Jesus is a full-time, all-inclusive, wraparound event. He wants all of us. Not just what we feel comfortable giving up. 

Consider these words of Jesus in the Gospels: "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" (Matthew 16:25-26a) And, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." (John 12:25-26)

Do these sound like the words of a God who would be content with a once-a-week nod to Him?

No. Jesus demands more. 

This is why He told His disciples that the road to follow Him was narrow, and many would not find it.

In the watered-down Gospel of the United States, we have reduced the message of Jesus to merely a prayer, "making good choices", and voting for a particular party. This is not the Gospel at all. It is completely unrecognizable to the words of Jesus.

It can lead to people showing up at Heaven's gate and having Jesus say, "I never knew you."

We need to take Him seriously.

Because we won't have a chance to go back and change our choices. It'll be too late. 

I know I’ll have regrets when I get to the end of my life - I already do. But I don’t want one to be not giving it my all. Not giving Jesus my all.

Someone once said, “Be today who you want to be tomorrow.”

There’s never a time like the present to begin.

That’s why I’ll continue to choose Jesus. Even after everything I went through, even after all the struggles, even with the residual questions and doubts I have - I choose Jesus.