past | considering the word

Pr. 27:22: “Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.”

This week I ran into a girl I knew in high school. She mentioned a mutual friend we had and noted that while that friend had been pretending to act foolishly like us, she was really going home at night and doing her homework. She was the only one who got a full scholarship to college and went on to have a prestigious career.

I left there with memories of the past replaying in my mind and, as is my custom, I began to feel down. I began to recount the many, many bad and sinful decisions I have made and how they greatly altered the course of my life.

Each time I thought of a low point, I’d remember an even lower point, and then I wondered if I’m the foolish person in this proverb. Am I the one who will never learn? I began to worry about how it would be all too easy for me to allow one more foolish decision to cause the life I live now to crumble around me. But isn’t that basically true for us all?

Then, I thought of God’s grace. I remember when God stepped into my life and said, “That’s enough.” I’m grateful to remember the decision He used to turn my course back to Him. I can look back and see my life changing and my decisions slowly changing to line up with His will and His word. I can recall times when He helped me make the decision to turn my back on foolishness in an effort to be wise.

I will never be perfect; however, I am not as foolish as I once was. I have allowed God to undertake the ongoing process of replacing my foolishness with His wisdom. Trusting God is the wisest thing I’ve ever done. Foolishness can depart, through Him.

Carefully,

jamie

Pr. 26:11: “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”

This is the verse I chose this morning, but couldn’t quite get my thoughts together to write anything must about it. I have been praying about it and thinking over it all day, and have landed on something I didn’t quite expect.

I have a lot of regrets about the person I used to be. When I look back on my past, I definitely do not have rose-colored glasses. My glasses are more burnt sienna. Everything seems tainted by pride, ignorance, selfishness…the list could go on and on.

The point today; however, is not my sordid past or a lack of self-appreciation. The point today: Jesus! I thank my God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins and to make me a new creation. My future is definitely seen through rose-colored glasses, as I look towards heaven, towards my returning Savior, towards the hope in God on which I can depend every moment of my life.

My Savior came to wipe away my past and my follies so that I can have life more abundantly and have an eternal future. It’s still up to me to try to improve myself and stay away from repeating folly, but the beauty is that I have a Helper who walks every step with me. I don’t have to do it in my own strength. I can abide in the Lord and walk in the Spirit and let them guide my way.

Thank you, Lord, for forgiveness, for making me a new creation, and for your redeeming, everlasting love!

Looking forward to a future filled with hope and rosy views,

jamie