Don’t Let The Sun Go Down - On Regrets
Well, some of you are thinking, “what is he doing singing an Elton John song of all things, during these devotions?”
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me was a famous song of his in the '70s. But it's been on my mind the last couple of weeks. And it started when I climbed into bed one night. Shereen had been asleep for a while. I'd been sort of messing around, just not doing anything really.
I got into bed and I sat there and I thought to myself, you know, I really had opportunities to do great things today. And instead of living a life that counts, I was just drifting about. I thought back on all the good things I could have done with my day—and I hadn't done them. Instead, I just drifted about.
Living Without Regret
So, as I was lying in bed regretting not doing enough with my day, the song came to mind: Don't let the sun go down on me if I've still got regrets for the day.
My mind went back to a sermon that I heard Derek Wilson preach when I was still at school. It was 2004. I've still got the tape of it, believe it or not. It had an impact on me because I remember Derek saying, "If only" are the two saddest words in the English language. Instead, our cry should be no regrets. We should live a life of no regrets.
Derek tells a funny story as the sermon starts, and I thought I'd play it for you off the old cassette tape.
Make Today Count
“It's a story about a student who was studying ornithology, which you may or may not know is the study of birds. He had his final examination to write, and he hadn't done enough work, by his own admission, but he thought he'd come into the exam unprepared but he’d wing it.
So he came into the exam to discover that the professor, who was a tiger of note, had not put any examination papers on the tables. Instead, there were pictures—25 pictures of birds around the room on the wall, but just of the birds' legs.
The student said to the professor, "What's this?" And the professor said, "This is your final examination. You need to identify each of these 25 birds from their legs." The student said, "You must be crazy! I'm not prepared to do that!" The professor replied, "Well, if you'd studied and prepared, you would be." So the student said, "Well, I'm not going to do the exam." And he said, "Well then, fail me." The professor asked, "What's your name?" And the student pulled his pants up and said, "You tell me."
So you can regret things not done, things not prepared for, thinking, if only I was ready, if only I'd put in the effort.
What do you have to do today to prevent yourself climbing into bed, saying if only? To prevent the sun going down on you with regret in your life?
God wants you to live a full life. God’s called you to do good things with your life. I hope and I pray that today and every day, we'll be the type of people who climb into bed and rest well—because we've lived the life that God has called us to live.
