This week the writer’s prompt from Five Minute Fridays is REGRET. We have 5 minutes to write what comes to us — quickly. Little editing. Just write.
Go: Clock is ticking
This post first published on Medium.com
I will admit I hate that word — regret. It has a negative tone and I am a positive person.
As I looked through Scripture I think God feels that way too. We are told many times to look forward, not behind. We press on, not look back. Even Lot and his family were told not to look back. Lot’s wife did — and she didn’t continue on.
“But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26, NIV).”
Therefore if we aren’t to look back what should we do? Look forward of course.
Consider this passage:
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (Philippians 3:13, NIV).
Do you hear that?
Forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead.
That’s the way our walk with Christ should be. We won’t always do the right thing.
But we will continue on the path set before us.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1, NIV).”
But how can we throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that entangles us?
And God shows us how. We know when we feel that aching in our souls when we know we are convicted of a sin. Don’t stay there. God is speaking to you. He will make you regret something and it must be cleansed immediately.
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12, NIV).”
When we feel that conviction of our spirits we need to act.
And to act is to ask forgiveness for our sins. Don’t stay there stuck in the muck thinking about it. Do something.
A prayer of repentance is the door out of regret.
Knowing that Jesus died for our sins makes us realize that we have been forgiven and don’t need to wallow in the past. We have to let the past go. It doesn’t help us in our walk with God at all.
Jesus said: “It is finished.” He didn’t mean almost done, ready to be done or will be done.
He said, “It is done.”
Therefore are you letting regret grab hold of your life? Are you mulling around all the should haves? Well, STOP it right now. Jesus has paid the price and you are not thanking Him by thinking of the past.
Go on. Move forward.
Here is a prayer for releasing regret.
Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for my sins. I am so grateful that I can hardly understand it. You have washed away all that from my past and have wiped the slate. The tape is erased. I am new because of You, Jesus. Help me to move forward, beyond this moment of time into Your presence of light and joy. Help me be at peace because You have made the way for me to be free and live eternally with You. And today I know that there is something still I need to confess. I confess it now before you. …………………………….In Your Name, Jesus. Amen.
CALL TO ACTION
Do you long for a deeper relationship with God?
Are you tired of being tired?
Would you like to feel God’s peace, protection and strength?
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