Twenty-Eleven and Second Chances

There's something about the start of a new year.

We confess our holiday over-eating, over-spending, and over-indulging and ring in the new year with the promise of a new start at the stroke of midnight. We feel hopeful, as if what happened last year doesn't matter anymore—we can start over and try again. I love this. I love new beginnings. I somehow find new motivation...to exercise more, to live a healthier lifestyle, and to be a better person.

Twenty-eleven also makes me think about God's grace.

Christians know all about God's grace, yet usually have a hard time comprehending and accepting it. It's a topic that I'm definitely passionate about, because if we miss the point on this one, then nothing else about the Christian faith really matters. Why do people embrace a new year? Probably because of the hope and promise that lie within it. This is just what grace does for us. Grace is basically God's free gift of forgiveness to anyone who wants it. And grace, like a new year, is all about second chances.

Most of us continually let ourselves down. We gained too much weight last year. We didn't save enough money. We worked too much. We didn't spend enough time with our family. A new year offers us a chance to fix all the stuff we screwed up the year before. My question for everyone reading this, is simply: Why wait for a new year for a second chance?

God's grace comes to us immediately...in fact, it's as close as a whisper. Jesus came to offer mercy to sinners, not to people who thought they had it all together. Let's not live in our past mistakes. Let's not beat ourselves up over what we didn't accomplish last year. To this point, Martin Luther had a great saying: "Sin bravely." Sure, we all screw up. But you know what? There's forgiveness. And who doesn't long for a second chance? God's forgiveness is a reality that needs to be thought about...deeply. Many people feel a sense of hope on New Year's day. I hope these people can know that one day a year is too short a space for hope and forgiveness. We need to embrace it every second of every day. As often as we feel we need forgiveness, it's there. Embrace hope and forgiveness in the same way you embrace a new year, with a willingness to forget the past and a motivation to live today better.