Second Chances

Nobody wakes up one day and suddenly find they are lost. Failure and success is about consecutively making right, or wrong, decisions. By doing small things different everyday, you can change the course of your life, for better or worse. Jim Rohn said: Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions, watch your actions, they become your lifestyle.

King Saul was one of those people who thought that small disobediences here and there will not matter. In fact, he made so many "small" mistakes and wrong choices, he didn't even notice his life was in a downward spiral, until he found himself fighting for his throne in the company of a witch, forsaken by God. What a vicious circle. Unfortunately for Saul, by then he was so in denial, he didn't even recognise the trouble he was in and therefore missed this very serious wake-up call.

Saul was the first chosen King of Israel. 1Samuel 31:3-6 He was stressed out, unable to live up to certain expectations, felt rejected and a failure. In a war against the Philistines, Saul's three sons were killed, and Saul himself was seriously wounded. I think God tried to prevent him from dying, hoping he would finally come to his senses and repent, since he was so lost in the weeks before this incident. God gave him three chances to reconsider: First he got seriously wounded, but didn’t die. Secondly his armor bearer refused to kill him, and we all know how tragically that ended for the armour bearer, and lastly Saul fell on his own sword in an effort to commit suicide and STILL didn’t die! Even after all that, he didn’t see the light, he didn't take the 3 chances God gave him to repent and spare him. He finally was killed by a passerby. Talk about wasted chances.

God is a merciful God, and He wanted Saul to grab the chance to repent and turn his life around, to be the King he was called to be. Instead, he caused a lot of heartache and deaths and died himself at the lowest point in his career. Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Peter is also an example of wasted chances, with one difference: he got the wake up call! Jesus told him that before the rooster crows that night, he would have denied Him three times. He was insulted and said NEVER would he do that! The sad truth is that he did deny God three times that night, Matthew 26:75 Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly." He repented and stood up there to become one of the greatest men ever to live! He took Christianity through the world, suffered through hardships* and ultimately died a horrible torture death, but he NEVER flinched after he got a second chance, because he got a second chance and wasn't going to waste it!

*(2 Cor 11:24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked)

God wanted to walk trough the Garden and talk to us, He wants to have fellowship with us and be our Friend. He will always give us a second chance, we must just be willing to take it. Question is: are you ready to repent and take that second chance, or harden your heart and ignore it, and carry on without God's hand over you, on the road of self-destruction?

1 Cor. 1:9, "For God is faithful through whom you were called into Fellowship with His Son Christ Jesus."