Keys

When I was a boy, we played street games, and ran around the neighbourhood in safety, along with a small army of other boys and girls, post war, and parents did not worry. They didn’t shout at us for making a noise, or getting excited. They had come through a war, and were just glad that their ‘babies’ were able to grow into troublesome schoolkids, and hopefully young men, and women. They knew the way it could have been, and could do little to change the course of history!

Not so the kids! We had a way out. If we were playing chase, or hide and seek, or kick the can, and we thought we were caught out either early or unfairly, we were allowed (under the rules of play) to put our thumbs up and shout ‘Keys’, or in my case the local word was ‘Bawlees’ (no, I don’t understand the word either) and this allowed us to play on as if we hadn’t been caught that time. It was a way out of our problem. How good it would be if we could do that in real life now, as older and more mature citizens, but we can’t. That was just a childish game, and there is no way we can put our thumbs up now, as adults, and shout ‘Keys’, or I have had enough. I have been caught out either unfairly or early.

Hold on. Don’t we believe in the God of the second chance? Didn’t Moses, Joseph, Jonah and the apostle Peter all get the chance to put their thumbs up, and a gracious God allowed them to play on in spite of their failings? In each of these cases, and many others recorded in the Bible, the end of the story was so much better, and I would suggest all because they had been given that second chance, and that thankful spirit within drove them on. We know the end of the story.

When (not if) you feel at the end of your rope, and can’t go on the way things are, put your thumbs up, say sorry (or in church terms, repent), and allow God to forgive your failing, and then you can carry on, so that the end of the story can be made right, better and clear. That may be important, first of all for you, but also for others who had been watching on the sidelines wondering how it would all end. Yes, I believe in the God of the second chance, and have had to use it myself. Haven’t you? Or maybe you need to play your ‘keys’ right now.

Second Chances

Second chances are hard to come by in this life. The fact is that we could all do with the odd 'second chance' or two when we think about some of the decisions we have made over the years. Some good, some not so good, and these are the ones I mean about wishing we had another chance at it!


Anyone who has been around church, and sermons, will be well aware that we all get a second chance with God, and sometimes a third, and a fourth and so on. How we need those extra chances in life! But a second chance here? In this life? Not usually, and not likely. They are like hens teeth, few and far between. In fact when we really need them, we don't usually get them.


So what's brought this about then? Well, even if we can't succeed, and take up the second chance fully, there is always the great benefit that 1- it was offered, and 2- whether we made a success of the chance, or not, we have had the opportunity to test ourselves to see if we were up to it. Now the real risk in second chances isn't the person getting it. It lies with the person who is prepared to put their own thoughts to one side and give you the chance again. You know, the chance you failed with previously. And probably with the same person you failed with before. That is what takes the courage.


I have had the benefit of a friend giving me the 'second chance' at something which I had wondered about. Was I up to the job? Would I hack it? Would I fail, yet again? My friend let me try, and no, I wasn't up to the mark, but did he tell me off for the risk he took with me? NO! On the contrary, I learned from my experience, and he let me. He was gracious, and understanding. Hey isn't that a bit like our God who gives us those 'second chances' we all need, and doesn't keep a score of the number of times He lifts us back up to our feet? Yes, I thought you would agree!!