Do Over Please!

Ladies, have you ever wished you had a big “reset” button?  I sure do.  Days where I could start everything all over again just by pushing that big button.  I would jump back in bed, fall asleep and wake up to begin the same day over.  Only this time, do things differently.  Sometimes this happens when I haven’t prepared enough for the busy day ahead - I push the snooze button one too many times, I realize I haven’t washed my work uniforms,  I’m finally ready to leave and the gas tank is empty.   Other times, despite my best efforts, nothing seems to go right - my hair looks funny, the dog pukes on the carpet, one of the kids spills their bowl of cereal, I get assigned an extra project at work.

To be honest with you, the times I usually wish to restart the day is when I have not used my time wisely.  It’s the days I get lazy and don’t get done what I know I should have.  Oh, I may have stayed “busy” on those days but I neglected the truly important things.  I didn’t spend time with God like I should have, I didn’t demonstrate Christ to my children or spouse, or I didn’t reach out to help or encourage someone else.  Those are the most frustrating days for me.  I always seem to realize it when the day is coming to a close.  As I plop into bed I feel an uneasiness that I know is from the Holy Spirit.  Pains from a day wasted on business again.  What an uncomfortable feeling.  I can only compare it to when I was a child and the feeling I got when I knew I disappointed my parents.  Yuck.  Do-over please!

I know many of you reading this are thinking I need to get a grip.  Maybe you think, “I read the Bible enough and I go to church; I am a nice person and I can’t be expected to reach out to someone every day.  I just need to give myself a break!”  Umm… no.  What God has called me to, I should not run from or neglect.  I can’t just busy myself with other things to keep from doing my real work.  That’s just Satan’s way of knocking me off course, he likes me off task.  So I should hate it.

I relate so well to Paul in Romans 7:15, 17-19 when he says, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”  I know what I should be spending my time on throughout my day, but instead I find myself staying occupied with other “important” tasks.  I spend my energy on Earthly matters instead of Eternal matter.  What a fool; what an easy target for the Enemy I allow myself to be!   Paul expresses this perfectly in verse 24 when he says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”  Fortunately Paul goes right on to give the answer to his own question in verse 25.  “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” 

Jesus is the answer!  More specifically what Jesus has done for us in his act of salvation is where we find our power.  He died in our place so that we would not have to be a slave to sin any longer.  This means that I can stop playing the fool in my daily life.   I need to remember Jesus and that he has already beat sin for me.  I can stop being a slave to whatever business the Devil dangles before me and begin to see my daily life as having eternal significance.   This I can do only through the grace of Jesus and through his power.

I have failed to use my days wisely so many times and continue to do so, but I find so much encouragement in 2 Timothy 2:13, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful.”  Despite our failures at being faithful to God’s calling in our lives, that does not change the goodness of God.  He will always remain faithful to us.  He will always restore us back to himself. 

So with the power granted to you through Jesus Christ get off the computer and pick up your Bible.  Go encourage yourself, your family or a friend with the Word of God right now!  Don’t waste another minute of this day!