From our earliest days of memory, we learned about the possibility of a “do-over.” When we messed up on the weekly spelling test, we would want a do-over.

Trying to learn an athletic skill; getting that piano etude down; making the bed wrong…

As we age, that desire for “do-overs” keeps piling up.

They only get bigger, more intense – a do-over on a failed marriage; an old friend who can’t or won’t let go of a grudge; not helping our children make better choices.

In our daily walk as Christians, oh, what we would give to have do-overs.

The good news is knowing that God grants them when we truly repent. We are always remade. Old gives way to new. Scars are mended.

We run ourselves ragged proving, achieving, accomplishing. We don’t have to prove ourselves to God, or even to others. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. Some of the most accomplished people (by the world’s measure) were inwardly train wrecks, prone to melancholy, depression, and a trail of broken relationships, shattered homes, unhealthy habits.

We are always being made new. God does not kick back, sit on his hands, and let us fall to pieces. Even when we do not perceive it, God is actively engaged in the do-over business. Think back on all the times we “coulda, shoulda, woulda”. Maybe we never aced a spelling test, made the dean’s list, got put in the game, became the next Mozart, or learned how to fold a fitted bed sheet. We learn from our mistakes, pick ourselves up, and lean on those everlasting arms of grace and mercy. Knowing that we are forgiven, restored, remade by the one who loves us unconditionally, we can accept ourselves. We get the do-over in the morning when we rise. We are given Jesus.

Pastor Art