Food for Thought: A Brand-New Ending

A pastor was interviewing three prospective new members for her church.  She asked several questions in order to understand their reasons for wanting to join the church.  When she was satisfied that they were sincere in their professions of faith, she went on to make some notes concerning how they each might want to be memorialized in case they died while they belonged to the church. 

The pastor asked what each of them would like to have people say about them at their funeral.  The first woman said that she would like them to say that she was a devoted wife, mother and that as a teacher she had inspired all of her students to live good and fruitful lives.  The next in line said that he hoped people would say that he had lived an exemplary Christian life and loved God and his neighbor more than self.  The third guy was a little hesitant but then said, “To be honest, I hope when someone looks into my casket they say, “Look he’s moving!”

We shouldn’t wait until the end of life to hope for a second chance.  We can change the ending at any time! 

There are times in everyone’s life when we would like to go back and have a “do over”.  Maybe we said or did something we regret.  We might have made a bad decision or taken a wrong turn of some kind.  We all know that we can’t take our mistakes back.  We can only try to make amends for any damage done to others by our behavior.  We also need to admit our sins and ask God to forgive us––which He has promised to do. "And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me." Jeremiah 33:8

Carl Bard put this all into perspective when he said, “Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”  What that means for us as Christians is that if we sincerely repent of our sins, God will provide a fresh start.  “Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17