Second Chances

In Jonah 3:1, the writer says, "The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time."  Why was that?  Because Jonah hadn't listened and obeyed the first time and God was not willing to turn his back on the city of Nineveh or give up on Jonah.

So, not being answered the first time, God comes knocking again, but this time, He knocks harder. This time God has Jonah swallowed by a great fish and spit out three days later near the city of Nineveh. This time Jonah is predisposed to listen and obey, this time God's will is accomplished and all of Nineveh is saved. 

In this story, God reclaimed both the Ninevites and Jonah. He gave them both another opportunity to obey. That is because Jehovah is the God of second chances because "he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Pet 2:9).

God loves us and does not desire our destruction, He will go to great lengths to reclaim you. He is, as Francis Thompson's poem suggests, "The Hound of Heaven," who chases after you. However, do not think there is no end to His patience or His efforts to reclaim you, for "the day of the Lord will come...and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare" (2 Pet 3:10). 

You are alive today, hopefully you have begun yielding your life to God, following the path marked out by Jesus, relying on the Spirit's help. But if not, God is still calling, offering you another chance. Why not accept His offer, why not say yes to a second chance, even if it is the 1000th time it has come? Why not listen to His call while His call can still be heard?  Or before He knocks louder?

Jus' Askn.