Second Chances

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

When my daughter Isabelle was in high school, a poem she wrote was published in a magazine. Hanging in one of our rooms at home is a large canvas print of the last stanza of the poem. It simply says “And We Too, will start again One Day.” By itself you don’t know what the entire poem is about, but you can assume that the subjects of the poem are going to have a second chance.

How many times have you wished you could have another chance at something? Often I bet. After all, we are imperfect people and one could argue that everything we do is imperfect. I can think of a million ways I would have done things differently in a all aspects of my life, both big and small.

2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that when we are “in Christ” we get a second chance – at life! What does that mean, to be “in Christ”? I looked up the verse in several different Bible translations. The most commonly used wording was “in Christ”, but “belongs to”, “united with”, “joined to” were also popular. The Living Bible simply puts it “when someone becomes a Christian”. My favorite, though, is from The Amplified Bible because it goes on to define what it means to be a Christian “joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior”. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are transformed into a new creation. Our sins are forgiven and our hearts transformed. We get a second chance at living a better, more purposeful life. Now, we are still imperfect, so we will make mistakes and encounter suffering BUT we will have the knowledge that we are children of a God who loves us, wants the best for us, forgives us and we will have hope for a future.

A woman I know recently said to me “I forget that there was a time in my life when God was #1. When did I stray so far away from Him and His word?” That is why we need to remember 2 Corinthians 5:17. We will stray at times, or at least be tempted to, but we will always have a second (and third, and fourth…) chance to start again when we invite Jesus into our lives, whether it’s the first time or the one hundredth and first time. It is never too late to reconnect, recommit and return to God. When we do, we allow ourselves to be released from sin, repaired of our brokenness and renewed by grace. The hope is that we will continue to live “united with” and “joined to” Him. From my own experience, I can say that a life lived with Jesus is better than a life lived apart from Him. He brings me hope, reassurance, compassion, joy and more. I know I need that in my life. Do you?

“Lord, thank you so much for all the blessings you bestow on us, like the blessing of second chances. We desire to live better lives, filled with your love, grace and mercy, but, at the same time, we allow things to come between You and us. Help us to truly understand what it means to live in Christ so that we can receive the forgiveness we desperately need and become a new creation that would want to go out into the world and share the Good News and your love. Amen,”

Love, Melissa