Into the Fire

Sometimes we talk big about regrets. Some of us boast about having no regrets. Some instruct others to live without regrets. Either way seems ludicrous to me.

Regret is built into the human psyche. It screams in our souls, but some of us learn to ignore it, pacify it with apologies, resist it and proclaim our lifestyles will be experienced to the fullest, all the while way down deep we know we're doomed to feel it, know it, and live with it.

We're sinners. Sin institutes regret. Lyrics to an older popular song went like this: "If lovin' you is wrong, I don't wanna be right." And that's a tale told throughout our world. Some things force us into regrettable situations by appealing to that insatiable source of desire known as our flesh. Constantly we are asked to disobey our righteous codes to live for the satisfaction of our physical bodies. But as Mick Jagger once pointed out so raucously – and correctly – we can't get no satisfaction.

There comes a time in a person's life when he or she makes the decision to live with fewer regrets. Or not. Mine came when I met Jesus Christ because I had a boat load of them when He gave me a new life. Forgiveness came easy for Him. Not so much for me. I'd packed a lot of wrong things into a several year period, and it didn't seem right for Him to let me off the hook for all those mistakes so easily. I continued to pay the consequences for them, but His forgiveness prevailed. Gradually the weight of regret lifted to a manageable memory, although I confess at times those memories taunt and haunt me unmercifully. At least I know the power of His Blood to cleanse me.

Don't flippantly dismiss the concept of regret. It packs a punch and it never fades away. It waits like a serpent to invite you back to that place which makes you want to forget about the pain it causes and how foolish and empty you feel when you indulge those things that return you to its hiding place.

You can't live this life without regrets. It's your nature. You can harden your heart to its somber reminders, ignore the stabs at your conscience, and claim you want to live life to its fullest so regrets be damned, but regret remains there lurking in the darkness concealed in all of us.

The more noble goal seems to be to live with as few as you can. The only way I know to do that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way I know . . .

Thank you, God, for rescuing me and taking care of my regrets. Only you could do that. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.