Galatians419: If I Had to Do It All Over Again

By Allen White

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” Matthew 27:1-10

Regrets. For most they are plentiful. For the fortunate, they are few. If we had to do it over again, many things we would have done differently. Now what?

We can torture ourselves with regrets. We can play the scenarios over and over in our minds. We can meditate on how dumb we are. We can cringe with embarrassment with every thought. We can lead ourselves to a place where recovery seems impossible.

Regrets can cause us to die while we’re still alive. We hide ourselves behind a façade. We create an image better than who we think we are. We live a pretend life, yet constantly endure real pain. Then, we wonder why we are drawn to things that aren’t good for us.

We feel bad about how we sooth ourselves. It’s just one more thing to feel bad about.

If we were born perfect and good and marred ourselves with sin, there would be plenty to regret. But, we were born into sin. We all fell short before we could even stand up. The curse of the human race is a sinful inheritance. Everybody sins. Everybody has regrets.

Judas’ regrets cost him his life. This wasn’t Jesus’ requirement. In fact, Jesus paid the price for Judas’ sin. If Judas had sought forgiveness, Jesus would have granted it. But, how could that be?

God is so much better than us. God loves His enemies. He has no desire to see anyone get hit by a bus, let alone, face eternal punishment. If Judas had cried out for forgiveness, even as Jesus was hanging from the cross, Judas would have been forgiven and free.

Sure, he would have thought about betraying His Savior. But, Judas would have understood the joy and peace from having your sins forgiven.

Sometimes we embarrass ourselves. We just want to die a thousand deaths. Jesus’ one death makes our wish unnecessary.

God will forgive you for whatever you’ve done. The question is will your pride allow you to seek His forgiveness?

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