Second Chance

1 Peter 1:3 "Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

I never do things right the first time. So when Eminem says "you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo" (Can you hear me rapping?) I get nervous. Unfortunately, he is often right. There are those moments that come in life that may never come again, there may be no second chance. That interview that you blew. That catch that you dropped. That missed phone call. That time when you forgot the lyrics to a love song you wrote for 60 tri-delt girls. . .

But Peter is telling us here that God is a God of second chances. The Greek for "new birth" is literally "second birth." A second chance. This is a substantive difference between the world order and the kingdom order.

I find an important tension at work in the life of a believer. On one hand every moment is a moment given us by God to be used to extend his kingdom. Our days our short and we should take advantage of every opportunity. Carpe Diem. And yet at the same time we can rest in the peace that we don't have to live wondering and worrying if we've blown our only chance at the life we were supposed to have.