"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" (Ephesians 2:5).
(It's Application to Life)
Stop! If you've not read Chapter 2, please go back to page 6 and read it before reading this chapter.
t is one thing to have an opportunity, but another thing to use it, and not just to use it, but to make good use of it. Like we mentioned in chapter two, opportunity that passes by can never come back again, so we need to make good use of the opportunities that come our way. ''Other opportunities may come,’' we may say; just to give ourselves hope. But then who knows if and when they will.
Who knows if life may permit them to come, and who is even sure they'll be utilized when they come. Therefore, make good use of the opportunities that come your way when they do. Do not wait for the second one, because it may not come, or you may not live to welcome it when it does.
Opportunity can be for good or for evil.
Let us say I'm having problems with someone and I want to make peace with him, I'll look for the opportunity to do that. I may watch to know when he is in a good mood, when he seems relaxed and approachable. When such an opportunity presents itself, then I will make my move and hope to succeed.
If I decide to kill the person I'm having problems with, I will also wait for that opportunity when he is alone and unsuspicious, then I will go to him with my weapon, strike him dead, and hope there will be no witness of the crime.
From the two instances we have two opportunities - the former is an opportunity to do good while the later is an opportunity to do evil. Both are opportunities.
Assuming in the first instance I got the opportunity but I decided to back out and hope to make the peace some other time, I've simply not made good use of the opportunity I had. And if either of us travels to the great beyond when the next opportunity is yet to come, that means I've lost that opportunity to do good forever. Hence, we must not wait for second chance. Because if we do not make good use of the first, there is the tendency that the second will still come and go unutilized. But if we make good use of the first, then there'll be no need for the second. However, when we lose the first, and the second surfaces, let us ask for grace from the Almighty and He will help us make good use of our second chance.
The same thing applies to the second instance. If I somehow turned from sending my target to the proposed destination when I had the chance, and went my way without achieving my aim, probably because I hesitated a bit and a-would-have-been witness showed up, or I just decided to repent from my purpose, then I would have just lost a good opportunity to do evil (which is a good thing anyway). But then to the evil minded I'd lost a perfect opportunity to do something profitable.
In the context of our discussion, sometimes what we call a second chance might not really be the second. Because we have multitude of chances to do so many things in our everyday life. Some people might be having their hundredth, thousandth, millionth or even their billionth chance. But then some things may just happen in our lives, and then we realize that even in our trillionth chance we have not really made a good mark, and we will add those chances up, fuse them together like I did mine and call them first chance. Then we would make a u-turn, reshape our lives, and start counting again. When we do that, we will call it our second chance.
We must not wait for the pronounced second chance before we turn back. We must not wait for the next opportunity before we do the right thing. We must not wait to experience it all before we take a decision. This is life, not business, not game, and definitely not a drama.
Let us look at the cases of some people in the bible and see what they did with their own second chances per say, and how. We will look at the accounts of the following people:
Samson
Simon Peter
Apostle Paul
1. Samson: (Judges 13 - 16)
“And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.” (Judges 13:24)
Samson was a destined child, born for a purpose just like you and I. He knew quite well the commands of the Lord about his hair, but when pressure came from Delilah, he gave up the secret after deceiving her three times. (Judges 16:15-20) When his head was shaven the Spirit of the Lord departed from him and his strength was gone, then he was captured by the Philistines.
Here we can say that Samson has misused the first chance he had, and he suffered greatly for it, for his eyes were plucked out and he was taken to a prison in Gaza where he became a grinder.
It is worthy of note that the strength of Samson was not in his hair, rather it was just a symbol that the Lord used to try his obedience. In verse 22 of Judges Chapter 16, we saw that Samson's hair began to grow again, but it was not an assurance that his might will come back to him. Because he really had to call upon the Lord to bring back the strength, and he did so in verse 28 of same chapter, which says “And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. ” That was his prayer for a second chance, a chance for strength, and the Lord in his infinite mercy granted him such.
“And Samson said; Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.” (Judges 16:30).
Here we have seen that although he died, Samson made good use of the second strength that was given him, that was his second chance; but I tell you, it must not come to that. However, even if it comes to such a situation that you misused your first opportunity, pick up courage like Samson did and ask grace of the Lord. I am certain that if you ask with a broken and contrite heart, the Almighty will grant you such.
2. Simon Peter: (Matthew 26)
Simon Peter was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. He loved his Master with a great love. That is why in the book of Matthew 26:31-33, when Jesus told them of the forth coming event and how they'll be scattered after he has been captured, though not in plain language, “Peter answered and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.”
But the all-knowing God, He who sees the end from the beginning, who knows all things, said to him in verse 34, “Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. ”
Peter and in fact all the other disciples couldn't understand how it would be that this Messiah of theirs, a great teacher, will fall into the hands of the wicked and be crucified. They did not know that “it is not by power nor by might, but by my SPIRIT”. Hence to the prophecy of the Master, Peter replied, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.” (Verse 35)
When the fullness of time came, at the foot of Gethsemane, when Jesus while addressing them was captured by the multitude who came with Judas, one of his disciples; seeing they could not stand against the multitude, and of course the one for whom they would have fought allowed them not, then all the disciples forsook him, and fled, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of the Master in verse 31: (Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad). Peter however followed afar off, for he loved his Master.
But when temptations came, one from a damsel (verse 69), the second from another maid (verse 71), and the third from 'those standing by', Peter denied his Master and immediately the cock crowed.
Here we can say that Peter has failed to make good use of the chance he had 'for fear of the Jews'. He would have stood for his Master, and though he should die with Him, he should not deny Him as he had said earlier. But when the pressure came upon him, he gave in and denied his Master even with oath and curses upon himself (verse 72, 74).
But Peter did not go and hang himself like Judas did, he did not run away never to come back, and he did not sit down to wait for another opportunity to come for him to accept He whom he denied. He on realizing that he had misused the opportunity given to him, realizing that he had failed his Master; went out and wept bitterly. He asked for grace, and he received. For no one cometh to Him and go back empty handed. And he that cometh to Him, He will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37). Peter wept bitterly; with a broken and contrite heart he cried unto the Lord, and the Almighty in His infinite mercy pardoned him, and gave him yet another chance. His faith grew and he became one of the strongest disciples.
3. Apostle Paul: (Acts 7, 9)
Prior to his becoming an apostle his name was Saul. He was at that time one of the arch enemies of the Christians. He was the pioneer of the stoning of Stephen, one of the apostles of Christ, “And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul”. (Acts 7:58) “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison”. (Acts 8:3)
One day, Saul, in his presumed zeal to do justice for God, went in unto the high priest and obtained permission from him that he may go to Damascus, arraign the disciples of the Lord, and bring them bound unto Jerusalem. Of course the permission was granted him and off he went.
However, the situation in which he found himself after the encounter with the Lord on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:3-19) gave him moments of thoughts. A second chance was offered him: an opportunity for him to right his wrongs; for him to hunt for sinners, not disciples. And guess what, he accepted the offer and made good the opportunity given to him. As a matter of fact, “straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God”. (Acts 9:20) As hard as it was, Saul, renamed Paul after his conversion, became the opposite of what he was. He, the hunter, became the hunted, for the Jews sought every now and then to kill him. But he stood firm in his new found belief and preached Christ wheresoever he went. He made good the opportunity given to him, thus he could conveniently say in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
There are many a lot more of the people of God that made good use of their second chances, and there are a lot more who misused theirs. But their own time has come and gone, and their own cases have been decided. It is now your time and mine to decide on what to do with the opportunity we have at our disposal - use it or abuse it. The decision is yours, I've taken mine.
As you make a decision, remember this:
"Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6).
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved ." (John 3:17).
