Another Chance

ANOTHER CHANCE

Life is interesting to say the least, because there have been times in all of our lives that we have made the statement “I wish I had another chance” to make something right, or to do over.

We find such an occasion with which many of us are familiar: and we find it in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. After the days of creation, Adam and Eve lived in the garden, and later they were tricked into eating the forbidden fruit. Because of that decision they were banished from Eden. Could you imagine wearing clothes of animal skins, and having to walk east of Eden into a world in which it was a struggle just to stay alive? Think about it -- they had lived in paradise and were then forced to leave it, because of that one thing they had done.

How many times they must have said to themselves, “I wish I had another chance.” They wished they could have been taken back to the instant just before they bit into the forbidden fruit, or when Eve had her arms outstretched toward that limb that had the fruit on it that would give them the knowledge of good and evil. A difference choice would have certainly rendered an different outcome.

Are we any different today? All of us have experienced the many defeats and failures of life. Many people live in a type of bondage; they live in the fear of others, and they are held by the fear of rejection, and are longing for approval. Many live in fear of what people think of them. We have had to learn to bear the trouble of a selfish heart, or anger from another because of something we have done, and we also say, “I wish I had another chance.”

When we turn to the Scriptures, we are reminded that the Lord did not intend for us to go through life bearing the guilt of sin. The Lord has a better plan for us, and we can read of it in the book of John. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The problems of life that come from the things listed above, are like the thief that will steal, kill, and destroy our life. Jesus teaches us that there is a better way, that there is a better life. As you look at your life today, would you say that you are experiencing the abundant life Jesus came to give? Or would you say that you are just existing, coping, struggling, surviving?

I am not saying that once you turn your life toward Jesus through obedience to his Word that you will have a trouble-free life, for there will still be days that will try your life: but that you would have someone to depend on in your life to help you through the difficult times.