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by Bob and Debby Gass
You Can Start Again
July 4, 2017
‘A bruised reed He will not break, and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out.’ Matthew 12:20 NIV
Aren’t you glad that God is a mender and not a discarder? With Him, broken lives don’t have to be the end of the story. He’s often been called the God of the ‘second chance’. How short-sighted is that? If we got only two chances we’d all be miserably, hopelessly lost. But instead He’s the God of the ‘seventy times seven’! (see Matthew 18:22). So He’s the God of unlimited grace. As long as you humbly acknowledge your failure and desire to start again, He will enable you.
The ‘reed’ referred to in today’s verse is a shepherd’s makeshift flute that had withered, cracked, and become worthless. The smouldering ‘wick’ no longer gave light and was considered useless. Both represent people set aside as damaged goods and rejected by others. But Jesus is committed to mend and heal, not break or quench those who have failed. He desires to give us a fresh start regardless of our failures.
The truth is that we all fail! As Adam’s descendants, messing things up comes naturally and effortlessly to us. Abraham lied and put Sarah at risk. Jacob was a cheat and self-promoting con artist. Moses determined to do things his own way and ended up a fugitive. David was an adulterer and a conspiratorial assassin who betrayed a faithful friend. Peter turned his back on Christ. Yet God used each of them to accomplish His will. And He will use you too, because ‘where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.’ (Romans 5:20 NKJV) So you can start again.
Soulfood: 1 Sam 18:1–20:29, Matt 23:13–22, Ps 102:18–28, Prov 17:11–14
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright © 2017
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