The world isn't very forgiving. The world won't often let you stand up and try again. Think back on the last time you had a scary moment: what would have happened had just one more thing gone wrong?
Let's use an incident from my own life for example. Just a few months after I got my driver's license, some 15 years ago, I was driving a group of Boy Scouts home from a weekend campout. I was driving as part of a caravan, and I didn't know the way home. I had been unable to sleep well the night before, and on the 40-mile drive home, I was tired.
Then things went horribly wrong, and I nearly made a horrible mistake that almost cost me and my four friends who were riding with me our lives. A large van got in between the car in front of me, whom I was trying to follow to get home. Not having a CB radio, I couldn't tell what the driver of that car was going to do. I felt lost, anxious, and determined to get around that van. The big mistake was that I was in a no-passing zone when I tried to pass! I figured it would be okay, moved into the oncoming traffic lane, began the passing maneuver---and then saw the truck speeding towards me in the oncoming lane! I heard brakes squeal...and then saw the van's driver move over onto the roadside. I quickly moved back onto the correct side of the road.
Ever since then, I've wondered: what if I hadn't been able to dodge into the correct lane? I and the four Boy Scouts who were traveling with me would have been killed. No ifs, ands, or buts: I would not get the chance to fix the damage, and then try again. In the world, there is no forgiveness.
One can reach the same conclusion by examining a relationship with a beloved relative or friend. Suppose, for example, your best friend were to die tonight, and you hadn't talked to him in weeks because you were mad at him? You can't call him up and say "hello" anymore. In the world, there is no forgiveness.
But there is hope, friend: because in Christ there is forgiveness. "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:8) "For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:17) There may be a sin tonight that is haunting you, and has you in its grip, my friend. The world offers no forgiveness from that sin....but Christ does. The Bible tells us in Psalm 103:11-12 that the Lord's mercy on those who serve Him is great, and the Lord will remove the sins of those who serve Him far away. It also tells us, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away, behold all things are made new" (1 Corinthians 5:17).
So come on. If YOU are not a Christian, why don't you become one right now? Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and be real to you. He will. Email me when you do.