A thought by John Ortberg (2015-05-05) from his
book, Life-Changing Love: Moving God's Love from Your Head to Your Heart (p. 73). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the
title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
We all need do-overs, don’t we? Paul over in Romans says, “All have sinned
and fallen short of God’s glory.” All is
a universal term. Everyone has
sinned. We all have fallen short. We all need a do-over. We all need to take a mulligan.
But so many of us look at our
failures and just want to give up. I’ve
sinned, I don’t deserve a do-over. I
blew it. But that is not the way God
looks at it.
John tells a story. “Warren Bennis
wrote about a promising junior executive at IBM who was involved in a risky
venture for the company and ended up losing ten million dollars in the gamble.
He was called into the office of Tom Watson Sr., the founder and leader of IBM
for forty years, a business legend. The junior exec, overwhelmed with guilt and
fear, blurted out: ‘I guess you’ve called me in for my resignation. Here it is.
I resign.’ Watson replied, ‘You must be joking. I just invested ten million
dollars educating you; I can’t afford your resignation.’”
You see, God gave his Son to die and
then be resurrected for you. He can’t
afford not to give you a do-over.
John continues, “The church is a
place for people who need do-overs. That is what God does. He comes to old
father Abraham who laughs at God’s promise and lies about his wife and God
says: ‘How about a do-over?’ To a shepherd boy who became king and committed
murder and adultery; to a prophet who ran away and was rescued from the belly
of a fish and wanted to die because he had to sit in the hot sun with no vine;
to a whole nation of stiff-necked and idolatrous people; to a persecutor named
Saul who mocked his Son and terrorized his people; to desperate, lonely, sinful
people God comes again and again and again and says, ‘How about a do-over?’ For
redeeming is what God is into. He is the finder of directionally-challenged
sheep, the searcher of missing coins, the embracer of foolish prodigal sons.
His favorite department is Lost and Found. His love has no limits, his grace
has no measure, his power has no boundaries known unto men.”
That is what God does. “He redeems and redeems and redeems and is
present right now as you read these words, and he longs to do for you what he
has done for countless rag dolls before you. He is the God of the do-over; the
Lord of the second chance.”
Why not let him give you a do-over
today?
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