For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
(Romans 3:23) If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I
John 1:9) Our problem is we often have a
hard time forgiving ourselves. Let’s
look at one of God’s most wonderful qualities – how when we mess up, he
forgives, forgets, and gives us another chance to try to get it right.
This is demonstrated in the Bible again and again. Let’s look at three people who God gave at
least a second chance.
Jonah
The story of Jonah is a very familiar one. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach to the people there and try
to convert them to Judaism. Jonah did
not like that plan because he did not much care for the people of Nineveh , so he caught a
boat and went the opposite way.
Because of how Jonah reacted to God’s request, God reacted
in a way that is often times the way he reacts when we do not obey. God sent a great storm. In our lives He can allow financial troubles,
health problems, or family problems to come our way to get our attention. He also can withhold that inner joy and peace
we have when we are in His will. This is
not a good situation to be in, and Jonah realized that as well. He had the men in the boat cast him overboard
because he knew he was the cause of the storm.
We all know about the great fish swallowing Jonah. It is that time while he was in the fish,
though, that two great things happened.
First, Jonah’s will finally broke.
He repented of not doing what God asked him to do, and agreed to finally
do it. Second, Jonah did actually die in
the fish’s belly. J. Vernon McGee says this would not be a miraculous event had
Jonah not died. Jonah experienced a
resurrection both physically and spiritually.
God forgave him of his disobedience and gave him a second chance to do
what God had called him to do.
David
Actually David had more than two chances, but we’ll focus on
one sin in particular – David numbering the people (2 Samuel 24). This was a direct disobedience of what God
told him not to do. According to God,
David was to feel blessed by the number of citizens God permitted him to have
and not be prideful thinking that he built such a great kingdom himself. What did David do? He numbered the people or, in other words,
took a census. God did execute a
punishment for David’s sin, but He let David choose the punishment. He also forgave David and had mercy on David
and the people of Israel.
This shows us that sometimes sin takes us to a point where
there are repercussions for our sin.
David had to be punished for his outright disobedience. This is the same way with us. We are God’s children, and just like our own
children, disobedience can lead to punishment to show us the seriousness of the
offense so we will not continue with it.
If we continue in the sin, the punishment can end up being eternal. We want to avoid this at all cost by knowing
Christ as Lord and Savior of our life and striving to know Him and keep His
commandments.
Peter
Peter’s story in Matthew 26 is a great example of how we can
become arrogant in our own faith. We are
never too good to fall, so are always in need of Christ’s mercy and
goodness. Peter was so prideful in his
faith that he thought he would never deny Christ; however, Christ prophesied
differently. He told Peter that before
the rooster crowed that next morning, Peter would deny him three times. Christ’s prophesy came to pass, and when
Peter heard the rooster crow, it reminded him of what Jesus had said. He wept and repented…the one condition for
God’s mercy. Repentance (sincere
confession and asking of forgiveness to God)…it will find us God’s renewed
mercy, grace, and love.
What happened to Peter?
He went on to be a great apostle for Jesus, and even ended up dying for
His cause. This initial failure made
Peter stronger, and that’s what can happen to us if we just learn from our
mistakes.
God’s mercies are new every day. We need just repent and ask for them. As time passes, it will draw us closer to Him
and stronger in Him.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I
make known Your faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89:1
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