from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
TRADE
IN SIN FOR SECOND CHANCES
My dear children, I write this to you so
that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the
Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
1 John 2:1
By the time Jonathan Edwards was nineteen
years old, he consciously set his mind on living for the glory of God alone. He
penned seventy personal mission statements, each beginning with an unyielding
affirmation “Resolved.” One reads, Resolved,
to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the
best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking.
Pondering the day at the end of the day
is a wise spiritual discipline in respect to eating, drinking, and more. Did I
act in the best way I possibly could in respect to how I used my time, money,
and words? Who was the center of my thoughts, conversations, and actions
today–God, others, or me?
If our evening ponderings are a
repetitive playlist of past sins, there’s a temptation to quit trying to live
God’s way. If we are sickened by our sins, surely God is weary and will give up
on us, too. How many times will He forgive? What’s the maximum number of second
chances He allocates to one person?
The enemy wants us to believe these
despairing thoughts. He accuses in hopes we’ll quit rather than to turn to God
whose mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). Thankfully, God does not treat us as our sins deserve or
repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:10). He is compassionate,
forgiving, and generous with second-chances.
When Abraham not once, but twice told
rulers that Sarai was his sister instead of his wife, God responded with grace
and made him the father of many nations. When Jonah disobeyed God, he wasn’t
left at the bottom of the sea. God rescued him and gave him a second chance to
go to Nineveh and proclaim His message. When Peter denied the Lord, not once,
twice, but three times before the rooster’s second crow, Jesus prepared
breakfast on the beach and gave opportunity for Peter to reaffirm his love for
Him.
When we sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One (1 John 2:1). When we confess our sins He lavishly trades
them in with forgiveness and the gift of a second chance.
Think
on it: What area of your
life have you given up on ever seeing change in your thought patterns or
behavior? Trade in your sin for His second chance.
God waits for the chances we give Him to show His
great generosity.
Saint John
Chrysostom
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