From Pastor Paul

Stealthily they walked through the jungle, a single column of men, cautiously looking right and left as they traveled. They were well armed as they moved through the brush. Their enemies would have been fools to rush them head on. Instead, one by one, they began to emerge from the bushes grabbing the last man in line, carefully covering his mouth so he could not cry out in warning to the others.

Isn't that the way it usually goes? I couldn't tell you how many movies I've watched wherein it happened this way. You'd think they would get wise to this plot after a while and put two men back to back, heavily armed with some sort of siren device on them. That way when the enemy tried to pick them off from the end of the line they would be very well guarded. But no they continue doing it the same old way. I've tried to tell them as I watched, "Look behind you buddy!" But they just refused to listen to me.

But isn't life a little like that? Many live day to day looking back to what happened yesterday. We fret and worry about what we have done. Many a movie star or sports star has ruined their lives and careers because of choices they made yesterday. Perhaps they are sorry for what they've done, although in too many cases they are only sorry after they have been caught. Regardless, we can't change what took place yesterday. We can apologize if an apology is in order; we can try to repay others if we have cheated someone. We can attempt to make right what we did wrong yesterday. Still, the mark is there and we cannot erase it.

Many have said, "If I could just live that incident over I'd do things differently." You know what? If we made the choice we made yesterday, unless we could relive it with the knowledge we have today, more than likely we'd make the same choice as we did before.

Let's just face facts here; we make bad decisions. We get angry; we feel justified and we do things in haste as a result. God calls it sin. If we could only have a heavily armed guard in the rear protecting us from those wrong choices, mistakes, and sin that we did yesterday wouldn't life be a whole lot easier?

In Isaiah 52:12 God, through the prophet Isaiah, speaks of this very thing. It says, "For you shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Isn't that a neat thought? It tells us that God will not only go in front of us but He will also be the heavily armed guard in the back. If we listen to Him, and if we follow Him, He will not only lead us down the path of safety but He will also be at the end of the line taking care of the enemy who desires to pick us off one by one from behind.

In essence He is also saying that if we are faithful in following Him, by doing what He tells us in the Bible as it witnesses to our conscience, He will not only take us down the right road of the future, protect us and guide us today, but He will also be there to help us make the right decisions that will protect our yesterdays. In other words, we won't have to live in regret of yesterday.

I know we all make mistakes and wrong choices. The Lord knows that I've certainly made my share, and then some, of bad decisions. But that only happens when we aren't in tune with God; when we act without seeking His will and His instruction. But when we are orchestrated with the God of Heaven, and we are following His music, the music of life, then He will become our guard against yesterday.

See You Sunday,

Pastor Paul