God Allows U-Turns, Bulletin 29

Abe Miller, Senior Minister
Tue Aug 05 11:17:13 MST 2008

           It is my understanding that the State of Arizona has a law that makes U-turns legal. For those of us who are not used to that law, it would be uncomfortable to make a U-turn even knowing it is legal. That is so because we are not used to it. In many places, it is strictly forbidden.        

          There are bumper stickers that proclaim, “God allows u-turns.” What a great message that is! That is what repentance is all about (Act 8:22). When you discover that you are going in the wrong direction, you repent and make a u-turn in your life. Before you were traveling away from God, now you are headed in His direction.         

         Jesus further illustrated the idea of a u-turn in Matthew 21:28-29 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later changed his mind (repented) and went.” Repentance, as Jesus stated it, literally means you are traveling in the wrong direction and when you recognize that, you turn around and head in the right direction.         

         There is more good news. God does not limit us to just one u-turn in our lifetime. We can make as many as is necessary to keep us going in the right direction (I John 1:7-10). Repentance is not a one-time event; it is an ongoing process. In other words, every time I have an evil thought, or say things I should not say, etc. I must repent, make a u-turn and get my thoughts going in the right direction. Paul said it in a little different way, “I die daily.” That is, he had to die to the desire of doing what was not becoming of him as a Christian. The good news is God accepts our u-turn every time we are truly sorry for our actions.        

          Folks that are perfect never need to make corrections in their life. But the fact is none of us are in that category, although some seem to act as though they are. Since we all sin (Romans 3:23), we all need to repent of those sins (Acts 17:30). If this is your situation, then we urge you to change your heart and change your life. Make the u-turn and get right with God. It is legal; it is right; it is necessary if you want to live eternally in heaven