Second Chance

We are all guilty of telling someone “I’m not going to give you a second chance.” We could be talking about a number of situations. Maybe an employer to an employee, a parent to a child, or a teacher to a student. Let’s stop and think for a moment! Suppose God said to us, “sorry, you messed up -- no second chance for you!” However, we know that the God we serve is merciful and kind and will always give us, not only a second chance, but many chances to get it right. As humans, we are always going to come up short at some phase in our life. But, as long as we are on this side of glory we have a second chance. In fact, God affords us many chances to make better choices and live better lives. We need to be very careful when we refuse to give others second chances. None of us are so perfect that we do things right all of the time. We were all once “milk Christians.” Without God giving us many second chances, we would not be “meat Christians” now. We should be thanking God every single day for the basic things in life – keeping us alive, letting us walk and talk, and keeping us safe as we go about our daily tasks.

What we did or said yesterday can’t be undone. All, we have is today and a second chance to do better. We are quick to put others down because we feel they are not “living the right kind of life.” The problem with making that kind of unrighteous judgment is that many of us don’t always live the right kind of life either. As Christians, we must always remember that God sent His son Jesus to die for all of us. We need to pray for those who stumble and fall and extend a hand to pick them up. Don’t just walk over them and keep going as if you don’t see them needing help! The second chance you give someone could help to turn their life around. God has a special mission for all of us. When we don’t succeed at first, He gives us a second chance. God never gives up on us. Just ask the children of Israel. He wants us to strive to live a godly life and because of His limitless mercy and grace, we have many chances to do just that. No matter how dark the day may be or how helpless you may feel, remember God is always there. He knows your mistakes, hurt and pain and He is always willing to give us a second chance.

Etrulia V. (Trudi) Brady

January 2011