Does God give second chances?

Matthew 12:20 captures one of God the Father’s descriptions of Jesus, “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench.” The message version reads like this “He won't walk over anyone's feelings, won't push you into a corner.”

There is a beautiful word picture here if you can see it. Along the banks of the Jordan were growths of large reeds. Craftsmen would sit there daily and fashion musical wind instruments from the reeds, skillfully hollowing out the pith and carving holes of precise size and location.

Occasionally the knife would slip and cut too deep, or the reed would crack under the pressure of the craftsman’s hand while being fashioned. Because of their abundance, it wasn’t worth the effort to try to repair the damaged instrument; he would simply discard the damaged reed and go start on a new one.

This happened so often that as people would walk along the river bank they would be stepping on a mat of damaged and broken – “bruised” reeds, you could hear the crunching. Father said “not my son.”

It gives Jesus great pleasure to take a bruised instrument, bind up the broken heart and once again hear beautiful music from one the world said “not worth the effort”. There are no disposable people in God’s eyes. But wait; see one more very important detail.

When the Lord took Jeremiah to the potter’s house for an illustrated talk, Jeremiah 18:4 reveals a key detail. “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.” You must note that the vessel was marred “in” (not “by”) the hand of the potter.

God will never use you up and leave you dry and spent like a crusty sponge by the kitchen sink. No, He “made it again”. Does the God you know give second chances? I’d still be in trouble. Mine is a God of “another chance.”

Well how many times will God do that? Let's let the bible define itself. “It was marred, so He made it again. It was marred, so He made it again. It was marred, so He made it again.” How many times is “again”? One more than it was marred! “A bruised reed He will not break”. He is just that in to you!