A God of Second Chances

 When our sons were little we had a rule. If you get in trouble at school, you get in trouble at home also. Our oldest son Taylor was in daycare. He was not older than five when he got in trouble at his daycare. When I picked him up, they told me about it. He and I rode home quietly. He broke the silence and asked a question etched in my mind. He grew up hearing me preach and heard us talk about God and forgiveness in the home. He could not remember the word forgive. Here is what he asked me. "Dad, will you give for me?" I did not understand what he meant. He explained himself and I deciphered that he was asking to be forgiven. 

We have all needed a second, third, fourth, and so forth chance with God. I started needing forgiveness when I decided my white bedroom wall looked like an art canvas to color in elementary. Mama came in and scolded me the first time. As soon as she left the room, I shut the door and locked it to continue my art. She finally convinced me to unlock the door. She gave me a spanking. When she left again, I locked the door again deciding I would not unlock it again. She eventually had to take the door knob off before I stopped. I used up a lot second chances in that one episode and have needed God's forgiveness more times than I can count since then. 

When people mess up, they live under condemnation and shame. They feel it from others and mistakenly feel it from God. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He loves to heap shame and condemnation on people. To make them think they cannot ever be forgiven for their wrongdoings. He is a liar and what he plants in people's minds are lies. You don't believe me. Believe what God says.  Read Ps 103:3, Ps 103:10-12, Rom 5:8-9, Rom 8:1, and I John 1:9. All of those verses speak to the subject of forgiveness. 

We do not have to be defined by our mistakes. Abraham was a liar and yet he is listed in Heb 11:8-9 as a person with great faith. We can rewrite the script. Our past should be left in the past. We can't go back and undo poor choices and mistakes. We can only trust God for another chance and move forward. Some people have a hard time with this. They continually beat themselves up. They can't forgive themselves for offenses committed. If Holy God is willing to forgive and give us a second chance, shouldn't we learn to forgive ourselves and give us a second chance as well. 

I will long remember that incident with Taylor after daycare. I learned a lot from his little perspective. Continually I need God to "give for me" with a second chance. He is in that business. 

A Thousand Deaths

 Galatians 2:20 is a challenging verse. It refers to living the crucified life. It is a verse about dying to self so the Lord Jesus Christ can live through us. To live this kind of life means dying a thousand deaths. It means saying no when you would rather say yes to sin. It means dying to plans and agendas that may not align with God. 

Dying a thousand deaths will come in little things and big things. I have a deep conviction about watching movies with foul language. I get that conviction from Exodus 20:7 where we are commanded to not take the name of God in vain. Before going to see any movie at the theater my family knows I want to know if there is any offensive and profane words in it. There have been times I had to walk out of a movie theater. Recently, I had to walk out of a play several people from our church went to see together. Very early on in the play profanity was used I could not sit through. That is dying a thousand deaths. It would be easy to sit through it. To go along with everyone else. God would not let me do that. So, Brenda and I got up and left. 

Dying a thousand deaths might require staying up late or getting up early to pray. It might mean serving when you would prefer to be the one getting served. It might mean giving away prized possessions or much needed money. It could include doing what God wants you to do on a day off rather than getting to do what you want to do. It might include fasting when you prefer to feast. The crucified life is not one grandiose act of dying to self. It is the act of dying a little more every day. 

This is not popular Christian theology. This is about surrender, sacrifice, submission and maybe even suffering at times. It is about the continual act of denying self. It is about dying to our will and submitting to His will. Dying a thousand deaths it not easy. It is difficult when the selfish part of us resists and rebels. A truly effective life for God is a yielded life. The crucified life. It is painful to keep dying to self a little more and a little more. Until the day comes when you are so caught up in living for and pleasing God that it gets easier to die to self each day. To deny yourself the pleasure of a purchase in order to give your money away to someone else in need. The crucified life means that you are constantly available to God as a vessel. The crucified life means that you deny yourself the instant gratification of sin for the greater joy  found in seeking and serving God. May we all learn to die a thousand deaths.