Saturday, Jan. 23: Does your life need a do-over?

Recently, I watched a re-run of "City Slickers," a touching comedy about some old friends in mid-life crisis on a cattle drive. One of the characters, played by Daniel Stern, had made some horrendous life decisions. In the discussion about those decisions, his friends remind him that in some cases it is like playing backyard baseball as a kid when the ball got stuck in the tree. It was a do-over, and in the same sense, they reminded him that his life could be a do-over!
Have you ever felt that way? I know I have! Here I am at 50 without a wife, kids or financial stability. Looking back on my life's decisions, there certainly are many that I would make differently with the amazing gift of hindsight. Yet do we ever want a complete do-over, or just a partial one? Do you really want to go through adolescence again? Final exams? Working in a fast-food restaurant? What would it be like to start over as a baby? I guess what we really want to do is start over and retain all the knowledge of the experiences we have endured, though I could choose to lose some of those memories. In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus of a similar situation:


1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
John 3:1-8 (NKJV)


Is being born again a do-over? When we decide to live for Jesus, instead of living for ourselves, God wipes the slate clean and we get that do-over! All of our sins are gone, and we no longer have to pay the price of punishment for those sins. What is the punishment? Death, according to Romans 6:23. After we acknowledge the role Jesus played as the Lamb, who takes on the sins of the world, we are not punished with death because He was punished with death for our sins. Just like the law of double jeopardy in a court system, God won't punish the same sin twice!
Is there a residual effect of the sin in our lives? Yes. Sin has ramifications. If you murder a man, then ask for God to forgive you, God will forgive you. Yet, there still might be that prison sentence to contend with. Additionally, to me the more difficult ramifications of that sin occur in the mind. I still remember my sins, though God doesn't. Satan has a way of reminding us of the pleasures associated with sin, rather than the bigger picture of the brokenness that came with the sin. Remember, if there wasn't some pleasure that we experienced with the sin, why would it have such a strong attraction to us?


1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)


God changes our hearts, but we are responsible for the renewing of our minds. How do we go about that? It is a much longer process of filling your mind with the things of God, rather than filling your mind with the things of the world. In order to do that, we must present our bodies as a living sacrifice. I think that is a great picture, for in the Old Testament sacrificial system, they killed an animal on the altar. The reason for this was as a precursor to what Jesus did, as there cannot be forgiveness of sin without the spilling of innocent blood. But a living sacrifice keeps trying to get up off the altar and crawl away. That's why it is a daily process for us. What is the benefit?


Transformation! In the Greek, the word for transformation is metamorpho, from the same word we get metamorphosis. Think of a caterpillar that turns to a butterfly! Are you feeling like you need a do-over in your life? Would you like to stop creeping along, with everyone stepping on you and squishing you as a caterpillar? Want to fly like a beautiful butterfly? Then you need to be born again!