REGRET

According to the calendar, I am considered an elderly man now. 

It is as if I am standing atop a hill I've labored to climb my whole life ... only to find that the view is not what I had hoped for or expected. All I see in the valley below is the errant, winding path that I took to get here ... every plodding step a memory of a life mostly wasted. 

Seven decades have rolled by and I've amassed a pile of regrets ... so much sin, so many missed opportunities to do good, and so little love. 

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: Romans 5:20

I am forever thankful that the Lord is 'rich in mercy'. It took me a long time to understand the difference between 'regret' and 'repentance'. There is a radical distinction between the two. 

The flesh can indeed feel remorse, acknowledge its evil deeds, and be ashamed of itself. However, 'regret' can eventually be shrugged off ... resulting in a return to the same sinful behavior. 

John Piper - Worldly regret is when you feel sorry for something you did because it starts to backfire on you and leads to humiliation or punishment. It's the reflex of a proud or fearful ego. Pride will always regret making a fool of itself. And fear will always regret acts that jeopardize comfort and safety. So feeling sorry for something we have done is in itself no sign of virtue. 

'Regret' involves the mind, 'remorse' has to do with emotions ... but 'repentance' brings about a changed life. If your 'will' is not touched, conviction has not gone deep enough.

McCulley - Jimmy had trouble pronouncing the letter 'R' so his teacher gave him a sentence to practice at home: “Robert gave Richard a rap in the rib for roasting the rabbit so rare.” Some days later the teacher asked him to say the sentence for her. Jimmy rattled it off like this: “Bob gave Dick a poke in the side for not cooking the bunny enough.” He had evaded the letter 'R'. There are a lot of people today (including Christians) who go to great lengths to avoid the 'R' word ... Repentance.

Even though I stand on that proverbial hill and cringe at what I see behind me, I now accept it as a precious reminder of how far down our loving Savior is willing to reach in order to redeem a lost soul. 

Amazing Grace ... how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.