The Big Question

As the years start adding up, it is an easy thing to look back and think about how things might have been done differently.  In the few clergy conversations I have in these days, it is a common subject.  We tend to look at how things are being done, express some thoughts about how it could be done differently, and then go our way feeling a bit smug about how we know a better way.  "If I was doing it, this is how I would do it," is a rather common refrain.   Of course, this is not something that is limited to old preachers.  No matter how we have lived our lives, we do sometimes think about how we would do it better if we were doing whatever again.     

What we know is there are no do-overs in life.  Perhaps, we could do it better if we were able to turn back the clock and live a time again, but there are no guarantees.  For sure there are no do-overs.  What does exist is an opportunity to look forward instead of backwards.  We have no power to change the past, but we have ample means to change the present and the future.  If we truly believe God does not throw us away simply because we reach a certain age, then just maybe there is something we can do for the purposes of the Kingdom in the days still left to us.    

An often quoted verse of Scripture is Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For surely I know the plans I have for you...to give you a future with hope."  The Word does not have a time limit on it.  Nor does it have a health requirement.  It is simply a Word which assures us that as long as we are breathing, God has a purpose for us.  Therefore, the big important question is not about what we might do differently in the past if do-overs were possible, but what we are willing to do for the sake of Christ if He continues to bless us with days and months and even years to come.