One warm afternoon on our
small northeast Texas farm my brother Frank and I were playing
Rodeo by riding our stick horses around the house.
During a water break we passed our mother’s sewing machine
and noticed a large full spool of white thread mounted on the
spindle, ready for use. Mom
made most of our clothes and used a lot of thread.
As Frank reached to get the thread there were several
questions that should have entered our minds, but didn’t, such as,
can we play with it (no), is it the last one (it was), will we get
in trouble (yes!), and what will be the consequences (I don’t like
to think about it!). Frank
took the spool and slid it over the nail that held the rains on his
horse, and then tied the loose end of the thread to the corner post
of the front porch. We
both began running with our trusty steeds between our legs and
watched the white thread begin to unwind from the spool onto the
ground along side the house.
We had made three trips around the house and as we approached the
front porch again the thread ran out, leaving the spool spinning on
the nail. We stopped and
watched the spool spin, realizing that our original decision was not
as good as we first thought.
We jumped off the horses and began trying to rewind the thread onto
the spool. After one circle
around the house the partially rewound thread was dirty, filled with
twigs and already twice the size of the original spool!
As we rounded the front porch there stood mom, with a small
peach tree switch in her hand!
As she pulled Frank across her knees in the rocker on the porch he
began to cry. I cried too,
knowing I was next. Frank
said, “I’m sorry, Mama, I’ll fix it, I’ll clean it up!”
That’s when our mother lifted him onto her lap and said, “You
can’t fix it, Frank, we’ll have to get a new one!”
I learned that day that there are some things in life
that you must be very careful with because they can’t be fixed. Your
heart can never really be fixed like it was before it got broken in
a failed relationship. Your
reputation can suffer irreparable damage when you deviate from the
truth and are discovered. But,
when you suffer because of your sin and then reconcile with God,
start working to put it behind you. Some
things can’t be fixed, you just have to start over.
Praise the Lord we have a God who majors on new beginnings! The
Bible says in Psalm 103:11-12, “For as high as the heavens are above
the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as
the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions
from us.” God is faithful to
forgive and to give us a fresh start. So,
whatever dead horse you insist upon trying to ride from the past,
get off and let God give you a new one! Submit
yourself to His leadership and He will keep you riding in style.
Common Sense Application
1.
As you concentrate on moving forward out of the failures of
the past read II Corinthians
5:17 every day for a month.
Write it on an index card and tape it to your mirror.
Write it on a business card and take it with you to read
during the day.
2.
Really let the old things begin to pass away, as the
verse states. Be faithful to
replace the old things with some new things of God.
3. Ask a trusted
Christian friend to be your monitor, to remind you when your
conversation and attitudes tend to center too much on the old
things.
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