Proverbs 24:16
A fresh start or a new beginning – it’s something we all need from time to time. So this Easter, as we revisit the greatest turnaround ever (Jesus’ victory over death), let’s do so not only looking at what happened that day, but also at what Jesus offers us when we desperately need our own fresh start or new beginning. We read in Matthew 28:54, “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” It’s one thing to fall down, and all believers do from time to time…but sadly, there are many today who never get up. They remember how it used to be with them and God, and how they used to go to church and live their life, but somewhere along the way they fell and didn’t get back up.
One of the biggest factors that keeps many from serving God like they should is not peer pressure or lack of desire, but guilt. Many people have done something in their past that they are totally ashamed of. Or they fell out of church years ago and would be embarrassed to return. The problem is we are looking backward instead of forward. Jesus said, Luke 9:62 No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Philippians 3:13-14 …this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
You may have fallen, but I have good news today: You can get up! And you must now go forward.
Just do this—tell God you are sorry and then start over. Once you have received His forgiveness – get back up and serve Him with all your heart. He does give fresh starts. Proverbs 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. You’re not a failure because you fall…only if you don’t get back up. If you get up just once more than you fall then you’re a success! That’s called “falling forward”. God loves you just as you are – and he loves you too much to leave you that way!
