Second Chances

Second Chances, First Choices

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10


The chainsaw screamed as it cut into the dense wood of the ancient red maple. Chips flew at rocket speeds until the woody behemoth crashed to the ground. The tree, more than a century old, was now dead.

Trouble is, it was the wrong tree. Too late to save the tree, someone discovered that the work order was for 521 Markey Street, not 521 Marley.

A man in Florida lost both legs in a surgical mix-up. A careless physician had mistakenly removed the healthy leg instead of the diseased leg, then had to remove the diseased leg to save the man's life.

A young woman caught herpes from her first sexual encounter with her long-time boyfriend.

A teenager drank two beers and then crashed his car, crippling himself and killing his best friend.

A popular current catch phrase among Christians is, "God is the God of second chances." Sometimes it is amended with the phrase, "...and third and fourth chances, too." It's usually meant to be a comfort to someone who has really messed up his life and is experiencing remorse. Imagine how soothing it is to believe that your carelessness, bad choices and harmful acts can be erased or nullified.

But, as good as this sounds, it isn't accurate. Common sense and experiences like those above show us that it isn't always possible to undo what's been done. The tree can't be stood back up, the discarded leg can't be reattached, and the dead teenager can't be revived. There is sometimes no second chance to do the right thing.

Scripture bears this out as well. In 2 Samuel, Uzzah died instantaneously for his mistreatment of the ark of the convenant. None of Judah's wicked sons were given a second chance to treat Tamar properly. Ananais and Sapphira were asked only once to tell the truth in Acts 5. No one gave them chance after chance to explain their actions or make amends.

On a less deadly vane, a man who becomes addicted to porn cannot make his brain pure again. No matter how hard he tries to put the smut out of his mind, it is permanently debased. A woman who becomes addicted to huffing magic makers can never restore her IQ or her liver function, no matter how hard she repents. And Mark 's attempts to pursue a second missionary journey after abandoning the first caused a permanent rift between best friends Paul and Barnabas.

The list could go on. One of the most important themes in the Bible is, "To obey is better than to sacrifice!" (1 Samuel 15:22). Our God does not remove the consequences of the things that we choose to do. No matter how hard we repent, He does not set back time to give us another chance to do the right thing.

He does promise His disciples forgiveness, mercy, grace and peace. These things are much more miraculous than a mere second chance. Here's an illustration: a popular and long-running game show allows contestants three chances to guess the correct price of a brand new car. If he misses the first guess, he gets another; if he misses that, he gets another. If any of the guesses is correct, the contestant wins the car as a prize. But if none of the contestant's answers are correct, he gets nothing. All he's getting are chances. If mercy, grace and forgiveness were in action, even if he guessed wrong, the contestant would still get the car.

In real life, it works this way: you get one chance to live, making choices all along the way. If you sin or blow your opportunities in some way, you don't get to live the moment over again. That moment, that event, is over and gone. Your choice, your action is irrevocable. Even if you don't like the outcome of what you have chosen, you don't get another chance. That moment is done forever. But mercy, grace and forgiveness are available to everyone who wants it. You can repent of what you have done and obtain the real prize: salvation and eternal relationship with God. Even if you make the same mistake over and over, you will be forgiven if you confess and ask forgiveness from God through Jesus Christ. God never runs out of forgiveness, in His book you are clean. But you still have to live with the earthly consequences of your sin.

God wants and expects his people to know and follow the rules that He has laid out for us. They are meant to protect us, not to inhibit us. He wants to be the Master of our lives, not just someone we run to when we get caught doing something bad. He is not the "God of the second chance," He is the Lord of the "first choice," and the author of forgiveness. Make God part of your decision the first time, and you won't need to have a second chance.

And next time you hear someone say, "God is the God of second chances," remind them that He is much more the "Lord of first choices."


If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. Job 36:11

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Carry only love. Hate is a burden that is tremendously heavy.

If you want to live like Jesus, love your enemies and give up your life for them.

Wow. I am going off-line now to absorb that. It was beautiful. God of the second chance vs. Lord of the first choice. I like that. Thanks! Goodnight.

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Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.-- Philippians 4:8

Amen! Amen! and Amen!

Gosh Lamb, whatever will I do without you? Thanks for the well compiled thought!

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Are you a suffering servant?

"Lord of first choices"

thanks for the insight and the reminder lambslove!

we've had discussion at fellowship, about the consequences of missing out God's given chances and would have to settle for second best. A brother was particularly troubled, what if he kept missing them all?
Being able to see, and understand God's will will certainly help us to obey Him (dispel fear first).

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"Rich? More like mired in minutiae ..... In this case it was an indolence characterised by a pursuit of knowledge, a frenzied search for answers to everything, no matter the value of such answers. A civilisation can as easily drown in what it knows as in what it doesn't know."

- Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

Awesome Lambslove! What a blessing!

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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

Faith in Christ is not belief without proof, it is trust without reservation.
I have found no greater joy, than to live totally surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Dear Lambs love,

In principle I agree with you that we should make the proper choice first, and not flirt with hoping for the second chance.

You are also right, that God's forgiveness does not negate the consequences of our behavior, that what we do does have consequences, much the same way as when we forgive someone who has hurt us, it is not a pardoning of their behavior, but a forgiveness that frees us.

But I do have to say THANK GOD FOR SECOND CHANCES. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. If, when I was 8, and rejected God, he did not give me a second chance 41 years later to come back to him, where would I be? Sure I made many unwise choices in my rebellion to God, many I would change if given the least opportunity, but how wonderful to have come to Jesus, and been cleansed. What a wonderful opportunity to reach back and help others out of the muck. What a humbling experience to realize how much has been forgiven, and how thankful I am that it has been forgiven. No matter the badness of our behavior, God can turn it for good, and I thank Him for that.

But there is a difference between God's grace and "second chances." What you experienced was God's grace.

He didn't set back time and allow you to live your life again, making better choices the second time; instead, He forgave you and allowed His grace to turn you away from all that bad stuff.

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Carry only love. Hate is a burden that is tremendously heavy.

If you want to live like Jesus, love your enemies and give up your life for them.