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Regrets, or No Regrets?
It is not uncommon for people to come to the end of their earthly life and have regrets; many approach the end, looking back and thinking about “what could have been” and express their regrets to those whom they will be leaving behind. In 2009, a woman who cared for the dying began compiling some of those regrets that had been relayed to her, and she began posting some of those stated regrets on a blog, and that compilation eventually became a book in 2012. The name of the book is The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
The author listed the top five regrets as follows:
∙ “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
· “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
· “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
· “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
· “I wish I’d let myself be happier.”
I find those listed regrets interesting but, at the same time, sad. The stated regrets are sad, first of all, because they all point to the fact a lot of us live how we think others want us to live and, secondly, because they all are related to the individual’s personal happiness or feelings, and say nothing about living a life of service to others. That is a reflection of our society, where personal happiness is often upheld as the very purpose for life itself. With such a mindset, it is no surprise, then, that many people come to the end of their lives regretting not making that their main pursuit.
But did you also notice in this list of regrets a lack of anything to do with their faith or service to God? I obviously do not know the individuals the author heard from, but it seems there is a noticeable absence of anyone mentioning regrets about things to do with spiritual matters. At least to me, this is noticeable, because I recall the story Jesus told of a man who did die, and the regrets he had afterwards. I believe we should take note of some regrets of one who already died.
The story is that of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). In the story, Jesus tells of this rich man “who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day,” and of Lazarus, a beggar, “full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” As happens to all, the beggar died, and so did the rich man. The beggar was “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” and was “comforted,” while the rich man was “in torments in Hades.” He sought comfort, but that was not possible, so he then turned to considering those he left behind on earth. In his words, we see some legitimate causes for regret:
Regret for the Life He Had Lived. In the story, we are purposefully told of how each man lived his life, and the end result was a reversal of their earthly lives: The rich man was now miserable and the beggar was in comfort. That is not coincidental; God is telling us that earthly comforts are not the main goals of life!
Throughout the New Testament, we are given clear instruction about not making the pursuit of material gain our main goal in life. Jesus tells us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21). He would later add, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24, 25) and then concluded, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Seeking God and His righteousness should be our main goal in life, for nothing else will matter when we die. Just ask that rich man.
Regret for Not Being Able to Warn Others. When the rich man was told he could find no comfort where he was, he then turned to those whom he had left behind on earth, and asked that Lazarus be sent back to warn them not to end up where he now was. But Abraham told him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” In other words, there was already a warning for those on earth: The Scriptures!
How sad it is that this rich man will not be alone in his eternal misery! How many millions — or billions — will regret not having heeded the very warnings from God’s written word that could have kept them from eternal torment? It is within Scriptures that we are told that we must believe in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, or we will die in our sin (John 8:24); it is there we find the declaration that the one who believes the gospel and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16); it is there we find that the one who is unwilling to confess faith in Christ will be denied by Him in the end (Luke 12:8, 9); it is there we find that we will all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for all we have done in this earthly body (2 Cor. 5:10). No one will be able to honestly say they did not know; God has given us all the warning we will ever need. Are we also now using the time we have here on earth to tell and warn others, so we will not regret failing to do so, for all eternity?
If you are reading this, then you are still alive here on earth and you have the opportunity to live from this day forward without such regrets. As long as you are living, you have the opportunity to hear and/or read the written word of God and learn and do the things He would have you to do if it is eternal life — and a life lived with no regrets — you seek. While you live, you can heed the words of God so you are not among those who, when Christ comes, will suffer the vengeance of God for not having known God or obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and who will then “be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:8-10).
The fact is, God has revealed to us within the written word the things we need to know so we do not have to eternally regret how we lived this earthly life. He loved us so much He sent His Son to die for us that we might escape eternal punishment (John 3:16) and so we would not face eternal agony for not having lived the life that is pleasing to Him. We do not have to be among those who rejected the written word simply because we didn’t like what it said (cf. John 5:39, 40). We do not have to among those who falsely believed we were doing all we did “in the name of Jesus” when, in reality, we were not, and faced eternal punishment because of it (cf. Matt. 7:21-23). We do not have to be among those who obey the Lord but then turn back to the pollutions of this world and whose end is worse than if they never obeyed (cf. 2 Pet. 2:18-21). Those who reject Jesus altogether, those who are deceived into thinking they are obedient to Jesus when they are not, and those who turn back to the world after having obeyed will all regret their choices for all eternity.
Since we all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), none of us can honestly say we have no regrets, but those regrets do not have to be eternal regrets. God has given us a plan by which we may be forgiven of past sins, but it is up to us to make the decisions now so there are no regrets later. — Steven Harper
