DAY 2:

Ever heard somebody say, “If you want something done right, just do it yourself”? Maybe you've even said that yourself. I know I have. It’s a phrase that might be spoken out of frustration after a parent asks their teenager to mow the lawn, and mysteriously the rose bushes have disappeared. Here's a hypothetical: maybe a wife asks a husband to do the dishes. Let’s say the wife's name is Amelia and she asked her husband, we’ll call him Mark, to do the dishes. He might think he's doing a good job, but they're not quite clean enough. Then, from the kitchen, Mark can hear Amelia mumble, “If you want something done right, just do it yourself.” That never happens in my house; that was a hypothetical situation. (Wink, wink!).

Now, I'm a do-it-yourself kind of guy. I'm a DIY guy. Not with the stuff around my house, but when it comes to my music, my tours, my podcast - even this devotional series - I know how I want to do it. There’s a good feeling and pride that comes in a job that you've completed after putting in the work, but when it comes to spiritual matters, that DIY mentality is a dangerous one.

Doing life on your own leads to a disappointing end. It leads to the realization that there are some things that we can't do for ourselves. Now, on the surface, a theme like “No What-Ifs” can seem like it might be focused on what you and I do with our lives and, in a lot of ways, it will be. However, the most important place to start is not by discussing what must be done by us to reach the end with no “what-ifs”; it’s about soaking up all the goodness of what's been done for us. 

The Bible tells us that we are all born broken into this broken world. We are sinners, and we need saving. As hard as we may try, we cannot save ourselves. God sent His one and only son to die on a cross, to shed his blood, to lay down his life for the forgiveness of our sins. There is no greater sacrifice humanity has ever known. The Bible tells us that we have been offered a past pardoned, a present planned, and a future promised because of Jesus. 

Here’s what Paul had to say about our past in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Here’s what Paul had to say about grace for the present: God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Paul also highlights the hope for our future too! In Romans 6:23, he says, “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Past, present, future. In other words, our Heavenly Father has left no “what-ifs'' when it comes to you and me getting to live a life free from guilt and shame and filled with a hope of an eternity in Heaven. 

What role do we play in taking hold of this? All we've got to do is simply grab hold of it. This is the first step to a “no what-if” life, to decide on accepting the “no what-ifs” that Jesus has offered you: grace for your past, grace for the moment, and grace for eternity. 

I love what Billy Graham said, “I've never known someone to accept Christ's redemption and later regret it.” In other words, do you want to live a “no what-if” life? Take the hand of Jesus. Thank him for doing for you what you could have never done for yourself. Step into the life of freedom that His forgiveness has offered to you. Jesus left “no what-ifs.” Take hold of that promise today.