“Regrets? I have a few. But then again, too few to mention.” I was tempted to sing those lyrics from the 1969 song My Way, but I’m no Frank Sinatra.
The reason I refer to those lyrics is because, by contrast, I have many regrets—too many to mention. Yet it would also be fair to say that I really have only one regret. You’ll understand what I mean by the end of this short video.
When we speak of regrets, our minds usually go to the big choices we’ve made in life, when we stood at a crossroads. We muse on the path not taken, and mumble, “If only… if only.”
I’ve done that, but not anymore. Why? Because I am who I am today precisely because of those bad choices. I could look back on all the years I wasted promoting a religion I now know to be false. I could dwell on the fact that I passed up higher education because of a false expectation preached by a little old, likely autistic man in Brooklyn by the name of Freddy Franz. I could go on and on about what might have been. But here’s the thing: if what might have been had been, then I doubt very much I would be who I am and where I am today.
They say it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Wrong! It’s all about the destination. That is the message we discover in the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews:
“If they had been thinking about what they had left behind, they would have had an opportunity to go back. Instead, they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:15–16)
The funny thing is, I was longing for “a better country… a heavenly one,” but I didn’t even know it. I’m sure I’m speaking for many of you when I say this. I had been raised to believe that the heavenly calling was for a very select group numbering only 144,000. Once I realized that that was not the case, I embraced that hope. Would I have been in a position to do that had I not made the so-called “bad choices” in life that I used to regret?
You’ve surely heard the expression that experience is the best teacher. I’m not so sure about that. What I can say, though, is that experience is a harsh teacher—because it gives you the test before the lesson.
The thing is, those self-inflicted life lessons I’ve learned from could have been avoided if I had done one thing—the one thing I regret not doing early.
It may sound trite—the most powerful truths often do—but the life lesson that would have saved me so much pain, suffering, and loss is this: I wish I had been more like Jesus.
Jesus was born as a human. He was completely human, not as the Trinitarians say, “fully man and fully God.” He did not have superhuman powers, but was like us, though without sin.
“For this reason he had to be made like them [his brothers and sisters], fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV)
Jesus had to be made like you and me. A human, a man. The only difference at that time was that he was without sin. He was like Adam was. Both men had Yehovah as their Father. Both were human. Both were without sin. But Adam failed. Jesus succeeded, which is why Jesus is called “the last Adam” at 1 Corinthians 15:45.
The writer of Hebrews next says: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15 NIV)
Adam and Eve were tempted, and they did sin. Why didn’t Jesus?
The answer is so simple it’s almost laughable: Jesus listened to his Father. Adam and Eve listened to the serpent. Jesus always sought to understand what his Father in heaven wanted him to do. He told us that,
“I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:30 NASB)
“I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.” (John 8:28 NASB 1995)
So simple. If we want a successful and joyful life, all we have to do is imitate Jesus, our brother. We have the same Father through adoption. We must listen to Him. I’m not saying that we won’t face trials and temptations. Jesus did. He went through tests the likes of which few of us will every face. Each of us must also face temptations, but they are measured out based on what we can bear.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV)
Imitating Jesus by listening to and learning from our Father is not an impossible task. Jesus didn’t gain his knowledge of God’s will miraculously. He wasn’t born with wisdom. He had to acquire it. But unlike most of us who grow up thinking we know better than our parents, he humbly listened. That doesn’t mean he never made mistakes. Remember, he was still fully human.
Let’s not confuse making a mistake with sinning. Sinning means disobeying God. If God tells you to do something and you don’t do it, you’ve sinned. To show the difference, consider this account of Jesus when he was a 12-year-old boy.
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he meant. Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart. Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people. (Luke 2:41-52 NLT)
That sounds like the reasoning of a twelve-year-old, doesn’t it? Be honest, you mothers and fathers out there. If Jesus had possessed the knowledge and wisdom of an adult, he would have realized there was a real possibility his parents might not know where he was—which, in fact, turned out to be the case. He would have thought about their feelings and the worry he might cause them if they couldn’t find him. He would have made some arrangement to let them know where he was, just in case. But he didn’t—because he was twelve.
Yet he did not sin. He simply filed that experience away as part of his growth and continued to increase in wisdom.
But why was Jesus in the temple all that time? Because he wanted to know God’s will and to do it. For the first thirty years of his life, he devoted himself to studying the Holy Scriptures—the Law and the Prophets—so he could understand what his Father required of him.
So when he came to John the Baptist to present himself, his Father gave him the three things every son longs to hear from his father:
- Acknowledgment
- Love
- Approval
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 NIV)
Jesus had the Law and the Prophets to study. We have that too, but we have much more. We have the words of God’s only begotten Son in the four Gospel accounts. We also have the writings of the Christian apostles and prophets—James, John, Paul, and Peter.
I was raised from infancy listening to those inspired words. But I also listened to what men said. I listened to the interpretation of human leaders. I trusted in men. Jesus didn’t do that.
Why? Because Jesus studied the Scriptures and would have known what God tells us in the Psalms:
“Do not trust in princes—in a son of man, For he has no deliverance.” (Psalm 146:3 LSV)
But this is more than head knowledge. James writes:
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says… Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22, 25 NIV)
It is not only about hearing, but about doing. Nowadays, the word obedience has unpleasant overtones for many. Today the message is: Do your own thing. Don’t let anybody tell you what to do. Think for yourself.
The reason obedience is so often dismissed is because too many have obeyed the wrong leader. The one we should obey is God, our Father.
But mere obedience is not the whole picture. Remember, the Pharisees were very obedient to the Law, down to the smallest details. Yet they were condemned by Jesus as evil men.
Jesus didn’t spend the first thirty years of his life studying just so he could obey God. He studied so he could be like God—to understand and fully know the character of his Father. Obedience is a natural byproduct of that knowledge. It is not rigid conformity to a code of laws but rather practical wisdom that flows from reflecting God’s character.
That is why Jesus could heal a man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees saw only that he was technically breaking the law. But in reality, Jesus was being obedient to the very nature of his Father.
“The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” (John 14:10 NIV)
God was not living in the Pharisees. So even while they thought they were obeying Him, they were in fact disobeying Him all the time. So sad.
What about you and me? Just as God the Father was living in Christ, we too must live in Christ. Because by living in Christ, we live in the Father and the Father lives in us. Imagine reflecting the very character of God in our lives!
Jesus tells us:
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” (John 15:4-6 NASB 1995)
So we must abide, or live, in Christ. It is time to look forward, not backward. No regrets. We are where we are because of the trials and tribulations we have endured. Yes, some of those trials were self-inflicted, but we still learned from them. Dwelling on the past is self-destructive.
The writer of Hebrews tells us:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1 NLT)
In the ancient world, runners in the games held at Olympia, Greece, would train with weights strapped to their bodies to build strength. But when it came time to compete in the race, they stripped everything off, so nothing would slow them down.
In the same way, we are stronger for having endured the pain of our past, having come through trials and tribulations, even the ones that were self-inflicted. But now is the time to set them aside.
Paul doesn’t specify what “the sin that so easily trips us up” is. Perhaps that is because it can be different for each of us. But whatever it is, it’s time to lay it down as well.
We are now in Christ. And what does that mean?
Paul tells us: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 BSB)
We are a new creation, a new person. The old person is dead. Long live the new!
“Regrets, I have a few…well, actually, only the one, but no more.”
Thank you for listening. I hope this has been helpful. And thank you for supporting our channel.