"If only..."  Are there any sadder words?  If only I had spent time with the children while they were young, refused that last promotion, respected my parents' love, avoided that first drink, ignored that flirtation, given my life to Christ.  Today's numbing losses grow from yesterday's tragic choices.

Many people, looking back, can now identify the specific moment, the fateful choice that started them toward where they are today.  Remember or not, there was one.  Most did not then realize the full meaning of their choice.  If they had, they might have chosen differently.

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you did some great wrong?  When you woke up, you said, "Thank God, it was just a dream!"  You realized that you had not yet gone down such a wrong fork in the road.  Does God use such dreams to make us more careful?

I had a friend who was poised to sacrifice his family for an affair.  I said to him, "This path will end in tears and regret.  I know people who would give anything if they could still be where you are, not yet having made the jump.  Still able to turn back."

We have all made some choices we now regret.  God does not stop loving us.  Though some losses cannot be recovered, God accepts our repentance, holds us and gives worth to our lives.  But how much better to have taken the forks which lead to good and avoid heartbreak.

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Copyright 2006 by G.B. Shelburne, III.  May be freely reproduced or forwarded for non-commercial purposes provided content is unchanged and this copyright notice is included.  These shepherding messages are sent to members and friends of New Beginnings Church (www.nbchurch.com), to students and alumni of South Houston Bible Institute (www.shbi.org), and to other interested persons. 

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