When Father Rick Thomas, our community’s founder, died in May 2006, I heard different people express regrets that they had. One lady told me, “I kept feeling in my heart that I was supposed to go to the Lord’s Ranch for Mass. I told my husband several times, ‘We should go to the Ranch for Mass.’ But you know how things come up, and we never did. I didn’t even know Father had died until after his funeral. I feel so bad that I never went to the Ranch. I know it was the Lord prompting me so that I could see Father Thomas one more time.”
Another person said, “I wish I had paid more attention to what Father was teaching us.”
Someone else said, “I wish I had been more faithful in going to the prayer meetings and putting into practice what Father told me to do. Now he’s gone, and I don’t have that opportunity anymore.”
These people were sharing their regrets. Hearing these comments, I thought of how sad it was for these people. But then I started thinking about what happens when we die and stand before Jesus. Are we going to be saying to Him the same kinds of things people said after Father Thomas died?
Regrets
Living with regrets can be very painful. All of us have regrets. They often come to light when someone we love dies and is no longer with us. We realize that we will never have the chance to do or say what we wished we had while he or she was still alive.
We only have this one life given to us. How are we using it? How are we spending our time, treasures and talents? When we die, are we leaving behind unfinished business, things we wished we had done differently? Or will we be at peace and ready to face the Lord?
How can we live in such a way that we have fewer regrets? Here are two suggestions:
1) Realize that our daily decisions and choices have consequences, here in this life and for eternity.
Romans 14:10–12 says, “All of us will stand before God to be judged by Him…Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.”
That doesn’t leave anybody out. No one can say, “Well, I wasn’t very important in the world. What I did or didn’t do didn’t really matter. God might overlook me.” Nothing is hidden from God.
2) Learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
This just makes good sense. Say, for example, you have a teacher in class, and you want to get a good grade. Well, you learn what the teacher is looking for and try to fulfill his or her requirements as best you can.
God is the one we will have to stand before when our lives are over. We want to know what He is looking for when we give our account of how we lived and used the gifts and talents He gave us.
So how do we do that? How do we know what pleases the Lord?
Take seriously His instruction manual! Read the Bible daily. If we want to know what is pleasing to the Lord, we will read the Scriptures daily and try to obey them.
Life is short
The psalms remind us, “We are like weeds that sprout in the morning, that grow and burst into bloom, then dry up and die in the evening….Teach us, Lord, how short our life is so that we may become wise.” Psalm 90:6, 12
Life is short! Eternity is forever! We’ve only got this one life to live. Let’s give it our best so that we can stand before God without regrets.
Teach us, Lord, how short our life is so that we may become wise.” Psalm 90:12
Another beautiful meditation. Thank you Ellen. Blessings, Alma
Thank you.🙏❤️