Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday January 18, 2006

Today and tomorrow I will wrap up the essays on Henry Drummond's 8 items of thought/action to aid in ascertaining the will of God in matters of daily living the life that is pleasing to the Lord.

Item number 7 is simple to state yet tough to really stick to:

"Never reconsider the decision once it is acted upon."

It is certain that Henry did not mean we shouldn't learn from our mistakes, but that we should not spend the rest of our life moping over a decision that over the course of time proves to be unwise. When you make a stupid choice, acknowledge it as such and get on with your life.

Most sensible people make a choice/decision with the best information at hand. Having done this you simply move on to the next phase of your life. And keep in mind life consists of many parts on many fields with many different players. Enjoy it and weep only when you have to and no one has to spend the rest of their life in tears, for our place of repentance is at the feet of Jesus and Romans 8:28 assures us that as we love God, He will, in His time work it all out for good.

I am not kidding you when I say I have made enough mistakes/sins for two, possibly three lifetimes. Therefore I spend a good amount of time thanking Jesus for saving me and providing His own precious blood, precious meaning of incomparable value, to remove my sins from my account to the depths of the deepest sea.

In addition many years ago I heard a nationally famous salesman state that when a failure comes into your life, evaluate it, write down the lessons and instead of spending the rest of your life groaning and moaning, "If only," change the statement to a positive one, "Next time." If only will not solve any problem, will stymie further growth and will cause you sink deeper into the pit of despair.

The phrase, "next time" implies you have failed, that you acknowledge the failure and that next time around you will most likely do better because you are wiser.

A friend of mine, Dr. John Russell was having coffee with one of his employees some years ago and my name came up. Dr. Russell said concerning me, "Some people just live, others live and learn. Larry learns from his mistakes." I took that remark as a great compliment and I admit to being encouraged when I heard about the conversation.

Learning to practice rule number 7, "Never reconsider the decision once it is acted upon," is one of the most important rules for continued progress in any realm of life, including our Christian walk.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.

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