A line from a song can halt your day. The brief statement captured by an artist can put your life into perspective. I heard the words this morning, “Every breath is a second chance…” Those words come from the Switchfoot song “Always.”
We quote the idea of Lamentations 3:22-23; His mercies are new every morning. Interestingly, the saddest and most depressing book of the Bible includes one of the most hope filled verses. The world can seem devoid of grace and mercy with an ever growing push to the bottom line and justice.
Many of us walk through life tied to our failures. Each day becomes more about not messing up as opposed to actually living the life God intended us to live.
The message of the Gospel communicates second chances. Humanity’s need for breath points us to our greater reality of a need for grace. Not of our own merit or doing, because grace like breaths comes from a Source outside of ourselves.
Jesus calls weak, weary, needy, sinful, and damaged people to experience second chances; A moment by moment breath of fresh air living in the constant reminder of His mercy to make us whole.
I have found myself walking through a few months where failures seem more apparent to me than successes. We can view weakness as piety, but most of the time we see it as the glaring glimpse of the obvious. These words “Every breath is a second chance” puts into perspective the work of God in our lives. The reality of our weakness invites us to draw upon the strength of Christ. The Giver of our breaths of both oxygen and grace appears to us today.
What the message of the Gospel communicates to us on a daily basis, second chances come like breathing. We move from the focus of our successes and failures to see a Savior offering a tank of grace. Each little inhale and exhale reminds us of the resurrection we experience through Him. True transformation results from seeing Christ in us as opposed to making everything happen on our own account.
D. Martyn Lloyd Jones said this, “The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace wondrous grace. By the grace of God I am what I am. Yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me.”
So, take a breath today. Jesus offers an abundant amount of second chances and oxygen.
Photo credit to Olya Myers Photography.