'I cannot change my past - that has happened. But I can choose to look at my past differently, and to see the future differently too.' So said a young offender on the Today programme this morning. These were brave words, but they emerge because of the help that young person has received while 'paying for his crime'.
Change is very difficult. See how many people struggle with basic behaviour issues, or who join Healthy Eating clubs or Gyms and then drop out. If it were easy to change, life would be different for us all.
St. Paul is an interesting case. He had been a proud and opinionated Jewish extremist, ready to see followers of Jesus arrested and killed (tried, if necessary!). But he met the risen Jesus, on his Damascus road, and then change started. At the end of his life, he wrote to his Philippian friends, from house arrest in Rome. 'I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.' (Philippians 3.13b-14)
Paul had realised that his origins and starting point were not as significant as his destination and finishing point. Knowing Jesus had made all the difference, and he shaped his life accordingly.
All of us have a choice about whether we allow our past to shape and determine the direction and destination of our lives. That way is ruin.
Or we can, with Jesus' help, look to the future, confident of what Jesus has done to make us new people, with a sure and certain destination. That would change the direction and details of our lives. The choice is ours. Will we accept change or not?
Best wishes,
Richard
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