| Recovering from a Wrong Turn - #4257 |
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Tuesday, May 6, 2003Poor Don. He had just become a hero to our ministry, along with the crew of volunteers who gave a long, relentless weekend to work on a major remodeling project at our Headquarters. They had driven many hours, worked almost around the clock, and then returned to pick up their real jobs. Friends like that are one of the great gifts that God has given to us. But, poor Don! A local had pointed him to the highway that would take him in the direction of home. But since Don had arrived in darkness and, of course, was now totally exhausted, he made a wrong turn and headed south when he should have headed north. He emailed us and said, "I headed south for about fifty minutes before I realized I was headed in the wrong direction." Poor Don. Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Recovering from a Wrong Turn." Someone's listening today who has made the same mistake our friend made when he wanted to head home. You have made a wrong turn. You're driving full speed ahead in the wrong direction. At least, from God's perspective - which is the only perspective that counts. You're compromising your honesty, your purity, your relationship with Him, or the plans God has for you. Maybe you're drifting back to the old you. You came to Jesus because you were sick of that old you, and here you are going to back there. It could be that you're doing things you once thought you'd never do, watching things you never thought you'd watch, losing yourself in a relationship that deep inside you know is wrong. My friend Don was sincere when he started in the wrong direction. He thought it was the right way to go. But no matter how much he thought it was right, going the wrong way could never get him where he wanted to go. Neither can your sin. It will never ultimately meet your need, or give you love, or give you a happy ending. If you want to end up in the right place, you're going to have to do what my friend did that day in order to get home. Recovering from a wrong turn takes us back to a Bible word that our generation has almost buried - repent. It was the essence of the message John the Baptist preached to get people ready for the coming of Jesus. (Luke 3:8) It was central to the message Jesus Himself preached. (Mark 1:15) Repentance was a cornerstone of the message Jesus charged His disciples to deliver to the world. (Luke 24:47) And in Acts 3:19, our word for today from the Word of God, it's presented as the road to a new beginning. God says, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Forgiveness of every wrong thing you've done - a cleansing spiritual shower is waiting for you on the other side of repentance. The refreshing, the new beginning is waiting for you - on the other side of repentance. Repenting has three parts to it - just as my friend's getting home did. First, you have to realize and admit that the way you're heading is wrong. It is, in the words of 1 John 1:9, to "confess" your sins. The word means to say the same thing about what you're doing as God does. Secondly, you have to stop going the wrong direction. Cut it off, burn your bridges to it, destroy all your sin-props, avoid all the people and things that feed that sin. Finally, like my wrong-way friend, you have to turn around and start consciously heading in the right direction. That means spiritually over correcting - deliberately starting to do right what you were doing wrong, beginning with making it right with any people you've sinned with or sinned against. There's so much God is wanting to do for you, waiting to do for you. But He can't while you're headed in the wrong direction. Today is a wakeup call from the Savior who died so you don't have to go the wrong direction anymore. Pull over. Get things right with Him. And download His power to turn around and head for home. Share or Bookmark This Page       |
