Trust in the Lord with all your Heart
Our deepest regrets are often based on decisions that seemed so good when we made them, but later did not turn out as expected. Either through inexperience or following foolish advice, we paid a terrible price for our inability to see all that was involved in the decision.
God is deeply concerned about this problem. His counsel is to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” and “do not be wise in your own eyes” (Pr. 3:5-7). It is much better to learn from God that a way that seems right will end in death than it is to make the wrong decision and die, regretting it for all eternity (Pr. 14:12).
Imagine that! Regretting a bad decision forever and ever, weeping and gnashing our teeth at the sorrow and remorse we feel on the last day. Think of a deep regret and imagine it multiplied if God rejected us because we didn’t trust him. Jesus was not exaggerating when he said “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire” (Mt 18:8). What terrible regrets we will have if we do not trust him with all our heart and do it.
Trouble is, it just doesn’t seem that way now! With so many in rebellion against God and so few consequences yet evident, it doesn’t feel so bad to lean on our own understanding. After all, it is the broad way and many have entered it with us (Mt. 7:13-14). Yet we must learn the lessons from those who lived before us lest we repeat their mistakes. Those in the days of Noah did not feel any alarm at God’s warnings, neither did those who lived to hear Lot’s warnings. Jesus said life just stayed the same right up until the moment the flood came or the fire and brimstone took them all away (Lk. 17:26-30).
There will always be scoffers and mockers who make the warnings of God seem funny or empty (2 Pet. 3:1-10). They fill their lives with lusts and pleasures putting God’s warnings out of their mind. But the day of the Lord will still come as a thief and the heavens will be burned up. In the twinkling of an eye (with no time for repentance or confession) the Lord will appear and it will be too late. Think of the gnashing teeth and the eternal regrets that will arise at that moment.
Much that is written in Scripture is designed to warn us of the terrible outcomes of choices that seem right. God loves us and wants us to succeed. He wants to bless our lives and see us happy and content. If we trust him, and obey his laws, we will minimize the danger of making foolish decisions that bring regret and even death.
God is deeply concerned about this problem. His counsel is to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” and “do not be wise in your own eyes” (Pr. 3:5-7). It is much better to learn from God that a way that seems right will end in death than it is to make the wrong decision and die, regretting it for all eternity (Pr. 14:12).
Imagine that! Regretting a bad decision forever and ever, weeping and gnashing our teeth at the sorrow and remorse we feel on the last day. Think of a deep regret and imagine it multiplied if God rejected us because we didn’t trust him. Jesus was not exaggerating when he said “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire” (Mt 18:8). What terrible regrets we will have if we do not trust him with all our heart and do it.
Trouble is, it just doesn’t seem that way now! With so many in rebellion against God and so few consequences yet evident, it doesn’t feel so bad to lean on our own understanding. After all, it is the broad way and many have entered it with us (Mt. 7:13-14). Yet we must learn the lessons from those who lived before us lest we repeat their mistakes. Those in the days of Noah did not feel any alarm at God’s warnings, neither did those who lived to hear Lot’s warnings. Jesus said life just stayed the same right up until the moment the flood came or the fire and brimstone took them all away (Lk. 17:26-30).
There will always be scoffers and mockers who make the warnings of God seem funny or empty (2 Pet. 3:1-10). They fill their lives with lusts and pleasures putting God’s warnings out of their mind. But the day of the Lord will still come as a thief and the heavens will be burned up. In the twinkling of an eye (with no time for repentance or confession) the Lord will appear and it will be too late. Think of the gnashing teeth and the eternal regrets that will arise at that moment.
Much that is written in Scripture is designed to warn us of the terrible outcomes of choices that seem right. God loves us and wants us to succeed. He wants to bless our lives and see us happy and content. If we trust him, and obey his laws, we will minimize the danger of making foolish decisions that bring regret and even death.