Failure Is NOT Final!

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Failure is not final. By God's grace through Christ's redemption, failure is NOT final!

A young man endures near-countless days in prison. His mistakes are those which people, both inside and outside the church, consider "big" sins. Though any sin is abhorent to God, we tend to falsely rank misdeeds; believing others' sins are wretched and our "little" sins are, "Oh, not so bad compared to THAT." Perhaps, the most dangerous transgressions are those we call "secret" sins - the temptations, thoughts, and hidden wrongs which have not been subjected to the cleansing of Christ. Big sins, little sins, or secret sins, all are failures before God. But, the failure does not have to be final. There is, through Jesus, the complete cure for our wretched ways.

Considering failure in a lighter vein, it is akin to the Kenny Rogers song about a little boy learning to hit a baseball. How many kids have tried to learn just this way? The little boy is trying to hit the ball by tossing it up and swinging at it as it falls.

On the first pitch, the ball goes up, the ball comes down, and he swings his bat as it hits the ground. The second pitch is hardly different from the first - the ball goes up, the ball comes down, again he swings his bat as the ball hits the ground. Listening to the song, you suppose on the next pitch the little boy is going to connect; he's going to send the ball soaring! Picture him digging in, adjusting his cap, and propping the bat on his shoulder. He makes the pitch; the ball goes up, the ball comes down, the little boy swings his bat all the way around. And, the ball hits the ground.

Your heart sinks just as quickly as the ball hitting the ground. You know this was strike three. The little boy has struck out. You think the youngster has failed. But, no, even the little boy knows so much better. He picks up the ball, undeterred and with a heart full of optimism. If you've heard the song you'll remember the his words, "I never knew I could pitch THAT good!"

He knows failure is not final. He'll press on until he learns how to hit, or maybe he'll learn his place is on the pitcher's mound. Whichever, he will press on past his failure. We, too, can press on past our failures. Big sins, little sins, or secret sins, our failures are not final. But, Jesus' forgiveness is final! In Him, the old failures are forgotten, and every day we can begin with no strikes against us.
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