New Life Today. And Tomorrow

I want a do-over!”

How many times have you heard that phrase on a playground? Or said it yourself?

When we were kids, that may have been after a swing-and-a-miss at softball or getting our feet tangled in jump rope. Or possibly just wanting to change our lunch order from peanut butter and jelly when our sister asked for grilled cheese, which sounded so much better.

We can make so many bad choices and questionable decisions that we wish we could go back and redo some things. Maybe the results would be better next time. Maybe not, but the results would definitely be different.

I’ve often wondered what my life would be like if I had married my high-school sweetheart. True, we loved each other and might have been happy, but how can I know for sure?

And if my first marriage wouldn’t have ended in divorce. Not to mention the gym membership we wasted money on or the lemon of a car we bought. So many choices that might have taken us down a different path.

But God allows us a fresh start each day. We can ask him to give us fresh eyes to see what he has for us, alert ears to hear those around us, and an open heart to witness opportunities.

That’s not to say we can avoid consequences. We still must pay that speeding ticket, wait for a broken arm to heal, and allow the mail to get that bill payment where it needs to go, hopefully on time.

I once embroidered a pillow for my grandparents that read, “Thank you, Lord, for granting me this new day in my life. Especially after I messed up yesterday so badly!” They chuckled every time they looked at it, but it reminded them constantly of God’s grace in granting them another day, and another, and another. . .

We can feel that same gratitude, specifically when we have another twenty-four hours to live for him. We can continue to do things that we shouldn’t have done in the past, or we can choose to live life anew.

Lamentations 3:19-23 tells us, “I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all – oh, how well I remember – the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there’s one thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning” (MSG).

God’s love is new every morning, giving us the hope of a new life within us and the chance to new and improved.

Let’s walk in his love and bask in his sunshine as we live anew.