Never

        A few weeks ago, I was browsing a list of quotes when I came upon the following:

Those words stirred memories; memories of things that I more or less regretted doing. Times when I’d made the wrong choice – choosing immediate pleasure rather than pursuing the infinite reward of Christ. I may have smiled in the moment, but I later regretted my choice.
Never regret something that once made you smile. 
Can I please just say that this quote is ridiculous? Please?
This quote is ridiculous.
I know that I tend to look deeper into things than intended. I doubt that the author of this quote honestly meant “never regret”. But that’s the part that annoys me – their use of ‘never’. ‘Never’ is one of those huge, powerful words that are now used so loosely (like awesome, always, and love).
Have you ever really thought about the word ‘never’? What it really means? That may seem really obvious; never means never, of course. Duh.
But more than that, ‘never’ is a promise.
To say you will never do something is a promise. This can work the other way as well, like if I were to say “I have never been ice skating”, but that’s not what I’m talking about. ‘Will’ talks about the future, ‘have’ about the past. I’m talking about ‘will never’.
With this in mind, read the following verse.
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” ~Hebrews 13:5 (NASB)
        You have probably heard that verse dozens of times. But when was the last time you sat and really thought about what it meant? He will never desert you; never forsake you. That is a promise, and one that you can wholly rely on.
        Just for clarification, while I don’t think “never regret” is a proper statement, I do not think we should trudge through life regretting all of our past mistakes. Christ died to cleanse us from our sin; past, present, and future. We don’t need to bear the weight of it anymore. Regret, repent, and move on.
We have so many reasons to smile each day – the pleasure of sin should not be one of them. Save your smile for the good things that deserve it. Like the fact that God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, has promised to never leave you.
Now that is something worth smiling about.

~Riah