One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Word: Philippians 3:12-14
“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. …Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Meditation
Regret by Paul Cloeter
Thinking back to an experience in your life, complete these sentences:
“I wish I would have…”
“If only I hadn’t…”
Having regrets because of something we have done or said—or left undone or
unsaid—is a human experience we’re all familiar with. Such regrets can be as benign as “I wish I wouldn’t have had that second cookie,” or as serious and potentially life-altering as “If only I had married Monique instead of Geraldine.”
Two classic cases of regret that appear in the Bible can be found within a few verses of each other. The first, from Matthew 26:75: “Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Three verses later we read, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse…‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘for I have betrayed innocent blood’…Then he went away and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:3-5)
Notice two things about regret. First, it’s personal. It comes as a result of my words or actions. It doesn’t have anything to do with circumstances beyond my control. I take responsibility. For example, we don’t regret the pandemic, but we may regret our response, or lack of response, to the pandemic.
Second, regret is an emotion that causes us to dwell on the past. At its worst, it forces us to live in the past. It’s one of those negative ‘re’ words that send us backwards; to ‘re’gress, to continually ‘re’turn to the event in ‘re’morse, even to ‘re’pent but have no one other than yourself to repent to. Such was the case with Judas. He took responsibility for his sin. But with no one to whom he felt he could repent, his regret caused him to regress into despair, and finally, suicide. On the other hand, Peter’s regret of his shameful denial ultimately drove him, through sincere repentance, to the very One whom he had denied. On a cross in less than 24 hours, Jesus would eliminate forever any need for regrets, Peter’s and ours, having taken from all of us the burden of our past through the forgiveness of sin.
Much like the end of one’s life, the beginning of a new year is a good time for us to reflect on those things that cause regret, things like “I wish I had spent more time with the people I love”; “I wish I had worked less”; “I wish I had forgiven more.” Instead of regressing into these regrets, though, now is the time to ‘pro’gress through the forgiveness of our past into the joy of living for Him who died for us and rose again. Truly, a life of ‘no regrets’!
Like St. Paul, who certainly had much in his life he could regret, we can confidently say, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
Shepherd me, Lord Jesus, beyond my failures and weaknesses, my sins and regrets, throughout the years of this life…and into life eternal. Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.