When Tom Watson was serving as head of IBM one of his top level executives made a mistake that cost the company over a million dollars. Knowing that his job was history the manager walked into Watson's office and said, "I know boss, I messed up and I am ready to quit." Watson responded, "Quit, are you kidding, it cost a million dollars to educate you. It's time to get back to work."
I don't think I ever cost an employer a million dollars, or even walked into an employer's office expecting to be fired, but there have been many occasions when I have been thankful for recieving a second chance.
The other day I was reading Matthew 18 where Peter asks the Lord how many times he should forgive his brother - 7 times? Jesus said, "I tell you not seven times, but seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:22). That can be a difficult command to live sometimes, but it becomes easier when we realize that God wasn't just giving us a command, he was giving us an insight into His own divine nature. Our God is a loving, compassionate and forgiving God.
So, next time you feel you have exhausted God's patience, or fallen so far that you will never find the road back, remember that we serve a God of second (third, and fourth) chances. Like the father in the prodigal son, He stands watching and waiting for our return. When we go to him ready to quit, ready to surrender to the obstacles of life, feeling that all hope is lost, you can imagine him saying, "Are you kidding, you can't quit, my son already paid that debt with his blood. It's time to get back to work."
No comments:
Post a Comment