God Gives Us Second Chances

Michael Vick has been sincere in ending dogfighting in the USA. We need to take advantage of the second chance God gives us. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Over two years ago, now Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick was walking out of a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.  He had lost millions of dollars after participating in the horrific act of dogfighting. People were wondering if the once dynamic quarterback would ever play again in the NFL again. Commissioner Goodell let him back in and now Vick is embracing his second chance on and off the field.

Last season, Vick had a MVP quality year after replacing Kevin Kolb in the middle of the opening game and led Philly to a NFC East title. The question still remained as to whether number seven was truly sincere or he was just doing it just to help his image.

On Tuesday, Vick showed his sincerity by bringing his new found stance against dogfighting all the way to the nation’s capital. If the new legislation that Vick proposed gets passed, it would give citizens felonies for knowingly attending animal fights and an even stricter penalty for adults who take minors to these heinous events.  I applaud Vick for going above and beyond to try to get children to prevent making the same mistake he made.

On July 27^th, Michael Vick’s book Finally Free will be in bookstores. The book details his dogfighting, his prison stint, and his newfound faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I, for one, can’t wait to pick up a copy the first day it comes out. It teaches us that the Lord our God is a God of second chances and he gave us that second chance when His Son died on the cross to take our punishment away.

One of the excerpts from the book I read on MichaelVickstory.com talks about he felt the Lord gave him a chance to right the wrong lies he made in the months prior to his prison sentence, and he felt He was teaching him a lesson. A person in the Bible that was similar to Vick was the prophet Jonah.

Jonah disobeyed God by not going to Nineveh to preach the message of God to them.  When he was first told to do so, he went on a boat to Tarshish, was thrown overboard in a violent storm, and was swallowed inside the belly of a whale. After praying, God gave Jonah a second chance. However, Jonah expected the Ninevites to be destroyed by the Lord. In Jonah 4, God takes away a plant that was sheltering Jonah and tells him that he should not be constantly angry at God’s will. “And the Lord said, You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.” (Jonah 4:10)

Before Christ came into the world, we were slaves to sin until He died for us. Today, I urge you to be a slave to righteousness. We need to show compassion to others and realize that the Lord has a plan for everybody, whether they be a believer or a non-believer. The apostle Peter tells us that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Michael Vick has seemed to find God and ask for his repentance, which we all should, because we all are sinners in this world. If we go to the Lord with our transgressions, he will make us a new creation. Through this piece, I hope even in the darkest time where it seems like everyone wants you to fail, you proceed on with the second chance God has given you and make the most of glorifying His name on Earth.