KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Regret
IT IS A certain and obvious truth that we reap as we sow...
The notion, however, that somehow the consequences can be avoided accompanies every temptation. Satan would have us believe that we need never regret our transgressions. But there will be regrets in the day of Judgment. There are also regrets that come in this life. One of the harvests which follows the fruition of sin is a lifetime of remembrance and shame.
Some are plagued by memories of dishonesty or of worldliness. Some look back with regret to periods of heavy drinking and of the lax behavior which attended such license. Others look back to immorality with great shame. Still others -- near the end of life -- remember years spent with too great a concern for material possessions, only to realize finally that they have thought little about spiritual things. The regret of some is that they know they have been self-centered and selfish.
Still others are disturbed, not by what is considered a major sin, such as lying, stealing, or adultery, but by the fact that they have failed to live their lives to the glory of God. They had the least concern for the things that mattered most.
THOUGHTS: There is no way that the fact of our mistakes can be changed. We can, however, live henceforth so that there be no regrets. Memory of foolish deeds may disturb us, but that memory can be a useful tool in helping us make better choices now. (David Pharr)
KneEmail: "Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears" (Heb. 12:16-17).