Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 1089 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The God of Second Chances – Meditation Monday
Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.
Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1089 of our trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy.
For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you too will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.
There are times in our lives where we really blow it. We mess up and hurt those whom we love most and who are close to us. We usually will have an opportunity for a do-over, but those scars may stay with us for the remainder of our lives. In our Meditation Monday today I want us to reflect on…
The God of Second Chances
Have you ever read a familiar passage in the Bible, then all of a sudden it jumps out are you as if you were reading it for the first time? It nearly explodes in your mind with a new impact that you have never seen before. Mark 16:1-8 is one such passage. Maybe it is the excitement of the resurrection and the empty tomb that makes another part of verse 7 so easily overlooked.
Let me read this passage to you, “Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way, they were asking each other, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, ‘Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.’ The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.”
Did you catch the last part of verse 7? “Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.”
Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure. Remember that just three days prior to this event, Peter had denied that he even knew Jesus three times. In fact, he even swore his denial in a curse.
What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall, and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help him back up again. In our modern day vernacular, it would read. “Be sure and tell Peter that he’s not left out. Tell him that one (or even three) failure(s) doesn’t make a flop.” He is not destroyed by this failure. What a relief for Peter!
No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance. We have the same second chances for us, even when we deny our Lord and Savior, just like Peter did.
It may seem like there are not many second chances in the world today. Just ask the kid who didn’t make the little league team or the fellow who got the pink slip or the mother of three who got dumped for a “pretty little thing.”
You may feel that there are not many second chances. If it feels like you are confronted with… “It’s now or never,” “Around here we don’t tolerate incompetence,” “Not much room at the top,” “Three strikes and you’re out,” or “It’s a dog-eat-dog world!”
Remember, Jesus has a simple answer to our crazy world. Why let a bunch of other failures tell you how much of a failure you are? In Christ, you are never a permanent failure. You can have a second chance.
Just ask Peter. The message came loud and clear from the celestial Throne Room through the divine courier. In the divine baseball game of life, the angel told the women, “Be sure and tell Peter that he gets to bat again.”
It’s not every day that you get a second chance. Peter must have known that. The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you’ve ever wondered what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.
It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance, much less someone who will give you a second chance every day. But in Jesus, Peter found both.
That is a wrap for today’s meditation. Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
If you would like to listen to any of the past 1088 daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so each day will be downloaded to you automatically.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!