Looking Backwards

My Belief

Do you ever have those moments where you think to yourself, “If only I had (fill in the blank)”? I do! Personally I see the world around me and catch myself thinking this about all sorts of things. For example: If only I had done an internship while I was in college, then my airline life would be so much easier today. If only I had really thought the housing collapse was coming, then I would not have made that poor investment. If only I had seen the difficulties in my family life, then I would have made preparations for them. All of this stuff is looking backwards and wishing I could have done it differently in order to make today a much better world for myself. That old saying of “hindsight is 20/20” is so true.

Isn't this exactly what Jesus and Paul warned us about though? Of course they were not focused on our life here. They were talking about our future lives that will start very soon and last forever. Any of us could “check out” of this life at anytime very soon. Many of us WILL! You could die from anything at a moments notice, and the very moment you do everyone of us will be immediately standing in front of the Lord Jesus. The first thing He will do is determine if you are one of His sheep or not, and if you are then the next thing he will do is ask you what you did with the time you were given. This scares me to death! Think about it! How awful would it be to stand in front of Jesus that died for me and say, “ya, about that… I really didn’t get around to doing that much for you, even though you died for me”. I am sure at this point Jesus will love and embrace me, but I will suffer loss of reward! Talk about a   bad investment choice! How many of us on that day will be looking backward thinking of all the heavenly riches we will never have. How many of us will say if I had just been a better husband, father, wife, or mother. If I had just used my crappy paper money to glorify God, If had just shared Jesus with more people, If I had just spent more time in the Word. I will have a pile of sin to answer for in heaven, but what will hurt the most is if I hurt Jesus because I did not do what he asked me to.

Scripture

1 Cor 3:14-15

¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

Application for Life

I SIN A LOT! There are plenty of times in my life that Jesus is not proud of what I am doing. This is always on the front of my mind and sometimes it nearly brings me to tears. I don’t want to waste the time I have been given. I want to live the life that Jesus asked me to and put Him first over everything. I continually pray that I will be a better father and husband. I am continually searching for ways that I can change my budget in ways to show God He is first. I am always looking for an opportunity to share Jesus with someone who does not know or help a fellow brother in Christ know more. My earthly performance has NOTHING to do with getting me into heaven, but it has everything to do with the sort of reception I get when I arrive. When I get there I hope and pray I am not looking backward, but instead EXTATIC to hear the Lord Jesus say, “Well done good and faithful servant”.