REDO—to do over again, to repeat an action with hopes of better results.
We all have moments we wish we could REDO. Maybe it was last year or an entire lifetime.
REDO. It is a term woven into the fabric of our culture.
The first time I ever heard that word was when my three-year-old son screamed it at a high school football game. The home team kicker had just shanked the extra point kick.
Kyle yelled, “REDO!”
The phrase caught on with the men in our golf group who began to substitute the ‘REDO’ phrase for ‘mulligan,’ a golfing expression for an additional uncounted golf shot to replace the previous mishit one.
My favorite REDO moment occurred at my younger brother’s wedding. Bill and Angie decided to have a small home wedding just as our college-aged dad and mom had done over thirty years earlier. Like our parents, they decided to save the cost of a larger wedding and use the funds to start their new life together as married college students.
The wedding party was just the immediate family, our pastor, and his wife who played the organ. They also saved the cost of a professional photographer.
Our youngest brother insisted he would capture the moment with his new camera. The young teenager
repeatedly rebuffed all photo pointers suggested by Mom and me. He declared several times with the utmost confidence, “I’ve got this!”
Joe positioned himself perfectly to capture the once-in-a-lifetime-moment of the wedding kiss. The wedding ceremony was brief and beautiful. The young couple looked like clueless lovebirds as they joyfully pledged their lifetime of love.
Our pastor smiled and pronounced them husband and wife as he encouraged Bill to kiss his new bride. It was everything a wedding kiss should be…a once-in-a-lifetime-moment to cherish forever.
I vividly remember the click of a camera shutter capturing the occasion. Then, eerily, and noticeably, there was no flash.
THERE WAS NO FLASH!
I know Joe wanted a REDO. Bill and Angie and, especially our mom, wished there were a REDO button in life for moments like this.
I had another reason for wishing I could REDO that moment. I would take a picture of my youngest brother’s facial expression…WITH A FLASH. The image has a permanent place in my memory storage.
“I’ve got this” lives on in family lore!
My college French professor asked me to REDO the one-on-one mid-term test. My one year of high school French at dear old Spiro High did not propel me into an elite foreign language spokesperson.
Our university mandated every first-year student to take a foreign language class. Mine met at 8 AM five days a week. This did not line up with my college freedom plan not to enroll in any classes that began before 11 AM.
I thought I was successful just making it to class. I did not realize the professor’s expectations of moving beyond my social dating usage of “Bonjour” and “Je t’aime” and “Adieu.” Or in Spiro speak, “Hello. I love you. Goodbye.”
I completely bombed the first conversational test. In the middle of my REDO session, the professor shouted, “C’est fini.” She expressed her amazement that I could converse some in French. Then she showed me the “coup de grâce.”
It was the final act of mercy to end my suffering. She explained that some people have a mental block which prevents them from learning a foreign language. She had written a “get out of jail free” note which excused me from the university requirement, which excused me from participation in the 8 AM torture classes.
I could not stop her next words and actions. She admitted she was wrong. She said I could learn when I applied myself. Then she tore up the note and placed it in my hand with a smile of encouragement.
I sat there stunned. I said her first impression was correct. I begged for a REDO.
She replied, “The word is refaire and the answer is absolument pas.”
She stared into my disappointed eyes and whispered, “Absolutely not. You will thank me someday.”
I gazed into the depths of her horned-rimmed glasses and responded softly, “Je t’aime, ma chérie.”
Our session concluded in similar fashion to the ending of the classic movie, Casablanca. My French teacher repeated Humphry Bogart’s iconic line as Rick and Renault walk off into the fog. “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Her ‘someday’ has never come.
There are many important moments in life I wish I could REDO.
Correct the mistakes. Relive the joys.
REDO the low points. REDO the high points.
REDO the regrets. REDO the cherished memories.
Life is a journey filled with twists, turns, successes, and failures. At times, we all wish for a chance to start over—a spiritual REDO that allows us to move beyond our past mistakes, regrets, and missed opportunities.
The concept of a spiritual REDO is not only possible, but it is also central to God’s relationship with us. God’s willingness to give us a fresh start is an expression of divine grace, mercy, and love.
God’s spiritual REDO is rooted in His character as a loving and forgiving Father. The #1 Textbook records stories of individuals who received second chances—Moses after his anger, David after his affair, Peter after his denial of Christ, and Paul after persecuting the church.
The woman caught in adultery, the emotionally damaged Legion and Mary Magdalene, the socially ruined Samaritan woman at the well, and the little corrupt tax-collector all received the intervention of God’s grace for a new beginning REDO in life.
That is what Jesus told Nicodemus. You need a NEW BEGINNING, a REDO.
Spiritual REDO is not about erasing the past but about redeeming it. God takes our brokenness, pain, and failures, and reshapes them for His glory. It is a total renewal REDO. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
God does not hold our past against us. Instead, He calls us to walk in the newness of life, trusting that His plans are good. God encourages us to “forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead…pressing on toward the purpose God has for each of us (Philippians 3:13-14).
God’s spiritual REDO is a testament to His immeasurable love. No matter how many times we fail, God offers us the chance to begin again. Through His mercy and power, we can experience true transformation and walk in the abundant life He promises.
I am thankful for the Lord’s REDO in my life. God did not just redecorate the outside; He completely restored the inner being into its intended purpose. I have not perfected it all yet; I am still learning.
Thankfully, all the classes do not begin at 8 AM.
Keep your EYES UP! Press on to the Goal. REDO when necessary!
LOVE FIRST...LOVE MOST 