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A few thoughts

I have often wondered what could have been… what about you?

Seriously, have you ever considered what could have been if you had dedicated yourself to finishing that degree? Or spent more time with your kids, brothers, sisters, or friends? Maybe you would be making enough dough to challenge the ranks of top executives, or even be the one who decides who gets to stay with the company rather than the one who is being decided on. Perhaps your kids would have listen more, your brother’s and sister’s lives would not be so disappointing from their eyes, and your friends might be willing to have an in-depth conversation or two more than the forwarded e-mail friendship that has become the custom.

Then I find myself wondering what might not have been… what about you?

Go with me on this. If you have ever stopped to help a stranded family push their mini-van out of traffic, help a friend through the end of a tough relationship, or handed a pair of shoes to a man who didn’t have any then you may understand where I am coming from. What if you had not helped the family push their van out of the way? There could have been a bad accident; one of the kids could have had a heat stroke (Texas summer heat with no battery for a/c thinking here) or what about the friend who needed someone to lean on? Problems of the heart are hard for people to get over by themselves. The man without shoes would have kept on walking on the gravel and glass littered roads…

Sure, maybe not these exact examples, but when you think about you I’m sure that you can think of a few things that would make you say “wow” if you saw someone else doing just that. We tend to forget these things, which is not always a good thing. Sure, it is good not to gloat or dwell about what we have done, but is it good to just forget the events from happening? Now think about the regretful train of thinking and the pat-yourself-on-the-back train of thinking. We tend to live in the regretful train all our lives, but we seldom visit the good job train.

Christ had vast opportunities during his tenure here on Earth. I always wonder if he ever thought about getting married and having a family… sure he knew he would have to leave these ones in this world husbandless and fatherless, but what person wouldn’t think about having a family at the age of 30? What about building the army so many had planned and driving out those who persecuted his people? And the night he was arrested? Do you think he regretted staying in the area to pray the night before his execution?

The answer appears in the acts that Christ performed for us. He didn’t have a physical Earth family, but certainly paved the way to bring all of his children home. While he didn’t conquer the physical world during his time, he managed to conquer sin and the grave for not just his people, but for all who choose to believe in him. And would a father regret having the chance to redeem his children and make them pure again? Think about having the opportunity to wipe away your children’s mistakes…

I’m pretty sure that Christ did not ponder then what could have been… He was here to be our savior. Christ might not think about all of the miraculous things that he did while he was here, but I am sure that when he thinks of you… he can’t help but smile about what he did.

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