"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).
(What it is all about)
Stop! If you've not read Chapter 1, please go back to page 3 and read it before reading this chapter.
aving known the meaning of the words 'second' and 'chance', let us now merge the two and get the meaning of the phrase 'second chance'.
Second chance can be said to be another opportunity after the first. We can also see it to be an additional opportunity to the one already given and possibly utilized.
It is the next opportunity to do something which one either could not do initially, or did not do very well or just needed to do more.
From our understanding of the phrase 'second chance', it can be applied in any situation or course of action, as long as activity is involved. Be it business, sports, etc. But for this discussion, we are looking at second chance as regards this existence called 'life', in relation to our salvation.
Each person born of a woman into this earth has at least one chance of being saved on the last day, and from the day of our birth we keep living this life as it comes; each day bringing new opportunities, new challenges, new assignments, new scores, new thoughts, new feelings, new attitudes to life and new chances.
Opportunities can be big or small, pronounced or unpronounced, defined or undefined. Sometimes we have opportunities but we do not use them. Sometimes we use the opportunities we have, but we do not make good use of them. But then sometimes when opportunities come our way we do not know of them; that we have no knowledge of them does not mean they do not come. “Opportunity comes but once”, but, opportunities do not come but once. These are two different statements that can however be joined as one. (Opportunity comes but once, but opportunities don't come but once).
The above statement(s) may appear contradictory, but they are not. I'll explain. It is a famous saying that opportunity comes but once. Some people do not agree to this saying, but I do. It simply means (to my own understanding) that a singular opportunity that comes our way and passes by, whether utilized or not, can never come back again. But that does not mean that another opportunity, probably one similar to the previous, will not come.
This takes us to the other statement that opportunities don't come but once. It simply means (from my own perspective) that so many opportunities come our way in different forms, styles, packages, appearances, situations, periods, etc.
Some people believe that once you miss an opportunity, no other opportunity will come your way, and that is what we are trying to disprove. True it is that a lost opportunity can never come again, but that does not mean that other opportunities will not come. Hence, opportunities do not come but once.
The difference between the two is that while the former is singular, the later is plural; the former is specified while the later is generalized.
Before you go over to chapter 3, consider this verse:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us"
(Ephesians 2:4).
