If Only…
Isaiah 48:17,18 The LORD, the Saviour, the Holy One of Israel, says, “I am the LORD your God. I teach you for your own good. I lead you in the way you should go. If you had obeyed me, then peace would have come to you like a full flowing river. Good things would have come to you again and again, like the waves of the sea.
Regret is an emotion that, obviously, we wish we’d never experienced. And yet, here we are. We all know what that word “regret” means – not because we’ve read the dictionary, but because we’ve lived it.
If only I hadn’t said that! If only I hadn’t done that! If only I’d remembered. If only … there it is, right there. Regret; that compelling desire to hit the rewind button so you can do that one thing differently to avoid the pain it’s now causing you, others or both. Regret.
We can only imagine the regret that Israel must have felt while consigned for seventy years to Babylon because they’d turned their backs on God by worshipping idols. So God allowed the Babylonians to raze Jerusalem to the ground … taking His chosen people captive to be their slaves.
And when God finally sets about setting them free, restoring them to the Promised Land, He reminds them:
Isaiah 48:17,18 The LORD, the Saviour, the Holy One of Israel, says, “I am the LORD your God. I teach you for your own good. I lead you in the way you should go. If you had obeyed me, then peace would have come to you like a full flowing river. Good things would have come to you again and again, like the waves of the sea.”
If only … they’d obeyed God. And there it is. There’s His Word of warning to you and me today. There’s blessing in obedience, as His favour chases you down the street. And there are consequences in disobedience, no matter how alluring a temptation may appear.
Don’t find yourself in that “If only …” place of regret again. Obey God.
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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