The God of Second Chances

Every morning that we wake, a new day awaits us.  It is a fresh start. A new beginning.  A chance to start all over again.

The Chinese has a saying, “Tomorrow will be better”  (明天會更好) 

As I grow older, I realize how more and more imperfect I am.  I do wrong things and regret it later.  I say wrong things at the wrong times. I think wrong thoughts in anger.  It is comforting to know that I can always find forgiveness in a God whose steadfast love and mercies are new every morning.  I get a second chance everyday.

You know, even Adam and Eve got a second chance, when God killed an animal to make an atonement for their sins.

Samson got a second chance.

David got a second chance.

Jonah got a second chance.

The woman caught in adultery got a second chance.

Paul got a second chance.

Peter got a second chance.

The thief on the cross got a second chance.

You and I got a second chance.  

If the Lord had come again 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, many of us would still be lost in our sins.

Some of you might ask, what about Judas Iscariot.  Why wasn’t he given a second chance?  Judas Iscariot got lots of chances. He was one of those within the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples.  He had direct interaction with the Son of God.  Yet Jesus said, “Haven’t I not chosen you, the twelve, yet one of you is a devil.”

During the Last Supper, when Jesus revealed that one of the disciples would betray him, each of the disciples asked Jesus, “Surely, not I, Lord?”   When it came to Judas’ turn, Judas asked, “Surely, not I,………. Rabbi?” (which means Teacher).  Judas probably never knew Jesus as Lord at all.

When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned as a result of his betrayal, he was remorseful and he returned the money to the chief priests and the elders, and what did he say?  “I have betrayed innocent blood…”  He did not regret betraying the Lord!  I believe if Judas had repented, the Lord would have forgiven him.  What sin is so great that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot wash away?

The great Chinese evangelist Wang Ming Dao was put in prison for his faith in Jesus Christ during the 1950's. It was reported that after going through torture and brainwashing, Wang Ming Dao renounced his faith and was released from his imprisonment. But when he was freed from prison, he was so tormented in his soul that he walked up and down the streets of Beijing for many days, crying, “My name is Peter; my name is Peter. I’ve denied my Lord.”  He went back to the authorities to withdraw his statement, and  Mao Zedong put him back into prison—this time for eighteen years. And every day in prison he would sing the hymn by Fanny Crosby,

All the way my Savior leads me;

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt his tender mercy,

Who through life has been my guide?

Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.

At first the guards tried to silence him. When they couldn’t silence him, they just put up with his singing. Gradually, as the years went by, they would gather near the opening to his cell to listen as he sang of God’s faithfulness to him. Eventually, they began to ask him to sing to them and to teach them the words of the song. Such is the impact of one who walks faithfully with God.

We may not have sinned as gravely as David with his adultery and murder; or like the woman who was caught in adultery. But, who among us has not needed at one time or another - a second chance from God?

• A second chance to do right for our parents.
• A second chance at marriage.
• A second chance after wasting our youth, our money, our talent, the opportunities that God has given us.

Let's be thankful that God is a God of second chances because we all need a second chance at one time or another in our lives.

God is not only the God of second chances, but the God of third and fourth and unlimited chances for His children who confess their faults and weaknesses and come to Him for help.