When our kids were young and we would play games, if one of their efforts failed, they would want a ‘do-over’. They did not want to accept their wrong answer or bad move, and they thought they should get a chance to make it right. Even as grownups, people often want an opportunity for a do-over when they are faced with challenges.
My Christmas dinner this year didn’t turn out well. It seemed that everything I made was overcooked. My ham was tough, my rolls were burned, my veggies were mushy, and cheesecake was dry. None of it was inedible, but it wasn’t my best effort. I wanted a do-over!
And that got me thinking… What is a do-over, really? Well, Merriam Webster says that a do-over is, “a new attempt or opportunity to do something after a previous attempt has been unsuccessful or unsatisfactory.”
Kids may experience do-overs in school. They could have chances to fix an answer or enhance an assignment before it gets a final grade. And all through school and even in the workplace, submitting a “first draft” for review is common practice. Doing a second, third or fourth draft is basically a do-over. Perhaps a child (or adult) is learning to play a musical instrument or a physical sport. Those are full of do-overs – they’re called “practice”.
Life changes can be do-overs. Life changes can happen by choice or by circumstance. Either way, big changes offer chances for big do-overs. Life changes can be things like moving, getting a new job, getting married or divorced, or having a baby. A life change by choice is a decision we make. We want a change in our life, so we choose a do-over. A life change by circumstance is a change that is forced on us and we must determine how we are doing to deal with it, which generally means a do-over. In either situation , a do-over can have unexpectedly wonderful results.
There is yet another kind of do-over that affects both children and adults alike, and that is TIME. We can consider each new day as a do-over. Have you ever laid down at night after a really crummy day and thought, ‘Boy, I’m glad this day is over’? Waking up in the morning qualifies as a do-over. It is a chance to have a better day – a chance to try again. A new day can’t change what happened yesterday, but it can give us a chance to move on, get a start fresh, regroup, or change our minds. It automatically provides a new opportunity.
People often celebrate the new year with the expectation that the new year will fix all the ills of the last year. That is basically making the new year, one great big do-over! Now, I’ve seen a lot of new years in my life. And some of them were better than the previous year, and some were not. But I still look at each new year as a new beginning – a do-over. Why not have positive expectations?
Any mistakes can have do-overs. I can’t go back and redo our Christmas dinner, but I could make another dinner that is cooked properly. Or I can make Christmas dinner again next year. I can learn from what went wrong so I don’t do it again. Any of those would be do-overs.
We cannot change the past by a do-over, but we CAN do things today to make things of the past better, or sometimes even go away. For example, if we say something hurtful, a sincere apology can be a do-over. An apology cannot un-speak the words, but it can pull a cover over them. And should the recipient accept the apology, those words can be forgotten. But unfortunately, they cannot be unspoken.
We can think of do-overs as opportunities to learn, or chances to do better next time. We can consider do-overs as steppingstones for growth, because really, some of our greatest learning and growing come from fixing our mistakes.
Our lives are full of opportunities for do-overs, but there is one DO-OVER we cannot ignore. There is one, “new attempt or opportunity to do something after a previous attempt has been unsuccessful or unsatisfactory”, which is essential for a victorious life. And that do-over is getting born again. It is the ultimate do-over! It changes everything! It offers us the best avenue for success because it provides us with God’s solutions. It puts our past attempts where they belong – in the past. And it gives us a brand-new life full of promises and rewards. It gives us access to God’s heart and His guidance. It allows God to have a relationship with us! And it gives us eternal life!! What more important do-over could we do than this?
Romans 10:9 – 10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
When we are saved, we have God’s power and authority to live a more than abundant life. And we can live that life free from satan’s deception and oppression because Jesus Christ paid the full price to secure our redemption and reconciliation to God.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Even though we have this marvelous new more-than-abundant life, we still subsist in this world with all its trials and temptations. We still make mistakes, and sometimes bad things happen. But we can always seize the opportunity for a do-over, and with God on our side, we can claim that “the future is as bright as the promised of God.”
Note to my readers: Enjoy all your do-overs. And if you don’t like your do-over, do-it-over again! Thanks for reading!