The God Of The Second Chance.

"And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching I bid thee." -Jonah 3:1-2

For the past several weeks in Sunday school, we've been studying the book of Jonah. It's been a real blessing to me as we've made our way through it, and I've really learned a lot. While reading Dr. J. Vernon McGee's commentary on Jonah I came across these statements he made regarding the first verse of chapter three: " 'And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time'. Our God is the God of the second chance-what a marvelous, wonderful thing that is! God will give you a second chance, and He will give you more than that. I know that he has given me a dozen different chances. He is long-suffering and patient. He is not willing that any should perish. If you are His child, He is going to hold on to you-you may be sure of that."
I jumped right out of my chair and yelled "AMEN!" How true that is; God is the God of the second chance. If it weren't so, all of us would (and by all rights should) be on our way to Hell. But you and I have a second chance (and a third, a fourth, a fifth, etc.). That second chance is Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for our sin. The book of Jonah is a fore-shadowing of Christs death, burial, and resurrection. That is part of the reason it's one of the most scrutinized books of the Bible, that and the fact that Jonah was swallowed by a "great fish" (but I'll write more on that subject in another post). And just like Jonah, after he spent three days in the belly of the fish(three days...where have I heard that before?), was used to bring the Ninevites to salvation, Jesus did the same for you and me. Jesus willingly gave himself over to death to pay for my sins and yours. He gave me a second chance... "Our God is the God of the second chance." What an amazing gift! To know that no matter what I do or how bad I mess up, if I go to God and acknowledge my sins and ask for forgiveness "...he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."(1 John 1:9) In other words, he gives us another chance. You too can have a second chance if you'll accept Christ as your savior and ask him to forgive you of your sins. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) God has promised salvation to those who'll accept his gift, he's promised you a second chance at life, but this time it'll be eternal life!!! The Ninevites accepted the gift that was given to them, will you?