Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #84

Second Chances

Jonah 2

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 1-2) "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: 'In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry."

My Thoughts

Jonah was called upon by to go to Nineveh to warn them that if they don't turn from their wicked ways, they would be destroyed. Jonah tried to run away and as a result, ended up being swallowed by a fish. Jonah was given a second chance though, and so was Nineveh. God didn't do anything until Jonah went to Nineveh, and He commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land.

We are all given second chances by God. And third, and fourth and fifth. God gives us such a long time and so many chances to repent and to come into right relationship with Him. Others deserve second chances from us as well, don't they?

I talked about forgiving before, but forgiveness means to move past what happened and not dwell on it, and to not hold a grudge against those who hurt you. Forgiveness does not necessarily mean giving them a second chance. We still should, I believe, in most cases. Depending on what happened will determine whether you actually give them another go.

In the case where someone tried to kill or otherwise seriously injure you, maybe that is out of the question. Forgiveness still applies, but you do not have to, and probably shouldn't, put yourself in the situation where they could try again to do the same thing. If it is a friend who stole from you or ditched you to hang out with someone 'better' and then come back, yes, I think giving them them a second chance is a viable option.

The thing about giving someone a second chance is that you are doing so to show that you have forgiven them and that you are hoping that the person has changed. That's what God does with us. He always does this though, but we don't. I wouldn't want to put myself in a situation to be hurt a second time. fool me once and all that.

There are going to be times when it isn't worth it to let the person back into your life, because they are going to hurt you again. If you try more than twice to give them another chance, and they still do it again, then you know it isn't going to change until something drastic happens.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!