God Will Restore Your Wasted Years!

"I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten... And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed" (Joel 2:25-26).

I often look back at the years I wasted before I became a Christian; years I wasted doing my own thing, living my life the way I wanted to, without regard for God and what He wanted. Even after becoming saved, I look back on the time I've wasted since becoming a Christian, not seeking His will, acting in haste and making wrong decisions. Like the prodigal son, I've wasted years in the pig pen when I could have been feasting at the Master's table (Luke 11:11-32). But in God's word, we have a promise, not just for forgiveness, but for restoration of the years we have wasted!

This promise of restoration is incredible! Instead of us making up the years to Him, He said He would make it up to us! The word "restore" here means, to complete, to finish or end, to make peace with. There is a reason Jesus called the salvation experience, "born again." He wants it to be as if we've just been born. There is no past, only future. We can live each day as if we have not sinned, as if we had not wasted so many years. We can praise Him, be satisfied, and not be ashamed! Paul said he wasn't perfect, he hasn't attained, "but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Lord, You have forgiven us. Help us to forgive ourselves, to forget those things which are behind, and to press on toward the mark without shame.

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