So you want to show responsibility for laying that big heap of life on top of each other one layer at a time? That would be mighty noble of you if that was indeed the rationale behind your continuous efforts that are making the pile even bigger. Let’s face it, the pile is there in the first place because we thought that the decisions being made were best at the time. However, we were probably better at being young and foolish than we were at being better at making the right decisions consistently earlier in life. I hear the not so young, say people in their mid-thirties to mid-forties, say it all the time, “if I had just listened a little more when I was much younger.” They would continue with “I thought I knew it all at twenty-five, but man I was as lost as could be, and to make it worst I was lost with other people listening to my every word.” Yeah, that’s how the pile gets started, and then before you know it, there is this big heap of bad life all piled up right in front of you. The one thing that we all seem to learn too late is this, “decisions made that affect your life, whether you made all of them personally or not, get you what you got.

Let’s pretend that we just finished the Masters Golf tournament on this past Sunday, and the reporter asked you the question that he asked to the 2nd place finisher Justin Rose. If you had one shot that you could do over, which shot would it be? Justin said probably one at the 17th hole where his bogey tied the tournament with one hole remaining. Since I watched all eighteen holes of his round, there were a few other places that he would do better if he could do them again. Here’s my point, the end result is not caused by just one action, but it is caused by a layer of actions. One of the many great things that He said was that He looked forward to his opportunities in the future to win the Masters. He’s was already looking forward to the new decisions to come, and not backwards at the layer that he just left from those past decisions. So what decisions would you change if you could? Stop it, don’t answer that question. I asked it to help kick-start you away from adding more to that pile already in front of you. There is no light through the pile already build up. You don’t need to figure out how to fix the pile from the past. You need to forget fixing the decisions from the past because that is how you continue to add layers to the big pile already in front of you. Look forward to your new opportunities in front of you, and make sure you go down the new path with the new decisions.

It is not as easy as it sounds to just go down the new path. There are so many connections, and bondage from the past that follow you wherever you go. This is where you need the strength to pay the price to go down the new path where there is light all the way. Now in this little older version of your same self, closed the opening that leads through the old pile of life: there is no light at the end because there is no end to the pile from the past until you make the decision to end it. You need a new opening, and Father is just waiting to give it to you. What is it that He wants to provide for you? He wants to give you the strength to break free from your decisions’ pattern that have given you this big pile of life with no light at the end. It takes strength to stand and flow against the tide of so many years of thinking one way. Father also wants to provide the new path that has escaped you for so many years, and given you the big pile of life without a light at the end. Let’s do this thing together. When that next decision comes that you dread so much, don’t dread it, just don’t add it to the pile: take a detour into the path with the light, and don’t look back. Father is a little bit down that path waiting for you. He’s just giving your faith time to take the credit for your actions: it takes faith to please Father!

See you soon! It’s Fathertime!

Adopted Son,