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Another Chance
Listening to the radio I’ve heard these advertisements here in Texas for the lottery that say if you buy a certain type of ticket, you get “Another Chance” added onto your original chance of winning. I don’t know all of the details, and I DO NOT endorse gambling (PHF doesn’t either. I had to put in that disclaimer so Gabe doesn’t bite my head off, ha.), but the ads are kind of funny. One of them has this guy who names his son Chance. When he has a second son, he also names that son Chance. “Why?” somebody asks him. He answers, “So I can have another chance.” The ad goes on to say something about not having to do that in order to get another chance, all you have to do is play the lottery.
“A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:11-24)
The story of the prodigal son is a very familiar portion of scripture. I’ve always found the story to bring a ray of hope to those that have fallen away from Christ. It shows the depths of God’s love for us. It shows that no matter how far we’ve run from God, we can always choose to come back to Him and He is ready and willing to accept us with open arms. I’ve been that prodigal son at times in my life and I am so grateful that God would take me back even though I know I don’t deserve His mercy and grace.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
We all go through times in our lives where we find ourselves separated from God. Sometimes it’s by choice and rebellion, and other times it’s from neglect of realizing what we have in Christ Jesus. We look at the world and think that the grass is greener on the other side. We see the bright lights and the enticements of the word that lure us into a place where on the outside it looks like fun. It may feel good. It may taste good. But it starts tearing us up inside. There’s only one place that sin leads, and that is unto death.
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Sometimes it takes us falling into the deepest pit before we start to look up. It’s sad that some of us are hard headed like that. It takes a famine in our life, a loss of everything, before we turn our eyes back to Christ. Some people need to learn the hard way. We all have our struggles and our weaknesses. We all have things we need to overcome. But no matter what we go through, we need to understand that God’s love never ceases. No matter how many times we fall, He is always there to pick us up. It doesn’t give us permission to sin, but it does allow us to run back into His arms if we do.
2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
God’s love for you will never change. You are His creation. He loves you more than you can possibly know. He’s calling you back to Him today. He doesn’t want to see you living with the swine. He doesn’t want to see you hurting and lonely with no place to go. You always have a place to run back to. You can always come home. God always offers you “Another Chance.”
w/muchluv,
geno
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