Matthew 18:1-5:Han Shot first

Our life can't be edited. It can be changed. I remember watching the original Star Wars in the theatre in 1977. In 1981 one of my friends had this neat new machine: a VCR. We could pause shows and even rewind parts of them and watch them over and over again. I saw Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back more than once or twice.

Early this century a friend lent me DVDs of the trilogy. I couldn't believe it: Why was Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars? Who was this new Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi? I don't remember Storm Troopers on lizards and I am pretty sure that Han shot first. I asked my friend why the movies were different; he replied that he hoped that the changes didn't ruin the movies for me.

Later when I was able to look on-line for movies, I looked for copies of the movies as I would have seen them in the 1970s or 1980s. I couldn't find them anywhere. But they are in my memory and the original versions of the movies have left significant impressions on many people. The movies, however, are no longer like that.

This is like our life. There are things that some of us have done that we wish that we had never done. The repercussions of those actions may stick with us and may effect others too. We cannot change what has happened. However, we can be changed so that these things never happen again. And God can change us even more than George Lucas can change his movies. God can forgive our sins, transform our stories, and make us brand new today. He can take out the parts that hurt and hinder us and rewrite our script so that we are a blessing to others. If we want our story rewritten and haven't offered our life up to the Lord for changing yet, I invite us to do this this very day.

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