“How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?… Yeah…
Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would’ve been state champions. No doubt.
No doubt in my mind.”
Uncle Rico
Regret runs deep. Every weekend warrior feeds off of it. It drives them.
Brando’s sentiments ring true for most of us has-beens, “I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.” Looking back on my High School sports career I often wonder, “What if?” What if I would have asked the coach to let me try quarterback, running back, pitcher?
I regret my timidity. I regret my inability to stand up for myself, I regret my laziness.
So do you. Some of you wish you would have run for class president, or tried out for the leading role in the school play. Some of you still wonder if that pretty girl would have gone to the dance if you just would have asked? Others now realize they really were stronger than the hallway bully, one good right hook to the jaw…but no, you just kept quiet.
If only.
Regret lingers and hides in the dark closets of all of our minds. You know it all too well. And as a result, many of us will live and make present choices to right the wrongs of our past. I now play all-time quarterback in our church football league throwing b-b’s to fat old men (sorry Brian, I am not talking about you…) and my 16-year-old son to recapture some stale crumbs of that old glory.
Some of you compel your kids to do what you never had the guts to do: “Get up on that mound and throw some heat,” “tryout for the role of Rizzo at the school play,” “Go ahead, punch that loud mouth poser right in the nose, I’ll even defend you before Principal Jones if he threatens to kick you out!”
Past regret often shapes present behavior.
Not so in Hell. In fact, I believe regret will be part and parcel of its pain and torture – – we will be forever stuck dealing with our silly, stupid, sinful choices. Regret will eat at us like the “worm that shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched.” C. S. Lewis writes, “All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.”
A Christian is simply a person that does all he can to avoid present regret so he can dwell in future peace. That is what is at the roots of repentance: to stop running down the bumpy road of regret, quitting the sin that so easily ensnares and enslaves, and no longer thumbing your nose at grace, truth, beauty and righteousness. And of course, no longer will you just let good intentions be enough.
So ask yourself, “What are you doing today that might cause you eternal regret?”
How am I supposed to know what I will regret in the future? I am not there yet. That is like asking your kid after they spilled a glass of milk, “Why did you do that, you knucklehead?” Isn’t regret impossible to stop? Not necessarily…
God has given us many warnings & signposts to help us avoid eternal regret – – they are posted all throughout the Bible. They are like billboards shouting at us on the side of the highway as we speed toward “regret” throwing caution to the wind.
I beg you to just look at three of the most provocative statements concerning regret Jesus has given us – – let them speak:
(1) Consider Your Eternal R. O. I. (Return On Investment): “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36. What do you gain when you gain the whole world? Riches, Titles, Positions, Pleasures and Things? Those are great gains, but short. Psalm 73: 13-20 describes temporal life as a dream, a fantasy, a blink of an eye. James describes temporal life as “a mist that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.” Have you ever waited in line for a roller-coaster for hours and hours and the ride only lasted for 30 seconds? Was it really worth it? Or did you have to hype it up and tell all your friends, “Dude, it was so worth it!!” Really?
(2) Consider the Moth & Rust (holding on the solid, lasting things): “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20. I will never forget when I spent my allowance on a bouncing ball…it was glow-in-the-dark green, but it was small. I walked out of the store and bounced it as high as I could. It bounced in the street, rolled to the curb and fell into the sewer. Goodbye allowance. Goodbye glowing green ball. What a waste! Can you imagine saying that forever – – about your life?
(3) The Sure Bet (a perfect investment): “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Luke 7:23. Jesus will never let you down. Jesus never lies. And Jesus will always back up his guarantees. He shed his blood, isn’t that enough proof of his goodness? Stop playing games: Muhammad wasn’t a truth teller, Buddha was a fabrication, Hinduism is a fantasy, and Atheism is a crap shoot. Jesus lives.
John the Baptist knew he was going to die, and he wanted to know, “Was I wrong? Was Jesus really the one we have been waiting for? I really want to know so I don’t regret my life.” Jesus answered him – – “I gave blind men sight, I healed the lame, and I rose people from the dead. What more do you want?”
What more do you want? Don’t regret passing up the greatest offer ever given. Don’t be a fool. Uncle Rico is funny for a short time, but eternal regret is no laughing matter.
Repent.
