Second Chances!

Ok, so this is a football post...nothing wrong with that except it's not about the Eagles! It's about what Kerry Collins of the Tennessee Titans can teach us about second chances.

It's been good to see the Titans having such a good season -- and especially good to see the contribution that Collins has been able to make. He's having his best year -- this after having been considered a has-been more than once in his 14 NFL seasons.

Collins has had his share of setbacks, and they were all self-inflicted. He has struggled with a bad attitude, poor on-field performance, off-field controversies, alcohol addiction, getting benched and bouncing around from team to team. There have been some good moments in his career (he played in a Super Bowl), but he has never quite lived up to expectations as a top draft pick in 1995.

Until this year. At the age when many players have retired, Collins is leading Tennessee through a remarkable season. Kerry Collins could have called it quits a couple of years ago. Had he done so, he would have been remembered primarily for the blunders. But he decided to stay, even though it meant, most likely, finishing his career as a backup player. Maybe he thought a small contribution to a team was better than nothing at all.

Then, unexpectedly, a new opportunity presented itself in 2008. This time he was ready.

There's a lesson to be learned in his story: It's never too late to change the course of your life. Your past may be marked with missed opportunities and unfulfilled expectations, but the past doesn't equal the future, and it doesn't have to define the present. As long as you stay in the game, you can change your course at any time.

It reminds of the verse in Jonah: "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time." (Jonah 3:2)

Regardless of how your story has played out up to this point, God is ready to reveal his Word to you again. He wants to send you back onto the playing field, wants to give you a chance to capture the potential that has been there all along.

Forget the disappointments of yesterday. They don't determine who you have to be today or tomorrow. It's not too late to have your best season ever -- keep yourself in a position for a second chance!