New beginnings - second chances

When our kiddos were small, we enjoyed the series of children's videos called "Veggie Tales." Basically, they were Bible stories presented in an engaging way that appealed to kids because of the catchy songs and fun graphics -- we loved them because they imparted Biblical concepts in ways that were easy to understand and fun to watch. Many a phrase or joke became a part of our family culture because of these; they were fun and they taught well at the same time.

One of those videos was a movie called (aptly enough) Jonah. It chronicled the story of Jonah from his selection by God, to his running away, to a great musical number inside the whale, to Jonah's eventual preaching to the Ninevites, and beyond.
The number inside the "great fish" featured the words "our God is a God of second chances!" I was reminded of this song when reading the third chapter of Ezra. I've pasted the chapter here for us, and I'll rejoin you after you read . . .

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. 2 Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5 After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.
7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. 9 Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:“He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise, and the sound was heard far away. (Ezra 3)

There's a lot there, right? (Grin)
This chapter is about a lot of things . . . one of the things is a new beginning with God.
To some of the "oldsters" who came on the trek, the new altar and the start of the foundation may not have seemed like much. After all, they remembered how gorgeous the former Temple was -- this was the famous building that Solomon lavished time and finances on. It was sumptuous in it's furnishings and glorious in that it held the glory of God. So to the older folks, who compared this new altar with Solomon's Temple, it may have seemed a bit anticlimactic.
So that's why they wept.
While the younger men rejoiced.
But God was going to use this new beginning to re-establish His people and their worship of Him, even in the middle of the rubble that used to be Jerusalem. In Haggai, the Lord spoke about this new temple that was begun here:

 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2:9)

The glory will be greater?
Yes -- it was to this temple that the Lord Jesus Himself, our Savior, would come and bring greater glory.

All of us experience times in our lives when we need a new beginning with God.
Yup, been there.
Perhaps you are there, now.
Maybe we have failed the Lord through rebellion.
Maybe we have failed Him by direct sin against His Word.
Or maybe we've just drifted carelessly into the view the world holds; we've neglected the things of God. Now we are far from Him.
Or it could be that a difficult trial or a tragic disappointment has caused us to drift from our relationship with Him.
We all need a new beginning sometimes.

But the devil can make us wonder if it's possible. And he can distract us so we don't know where to start. He'll preoccupy us with the thought of a new beginning being scary. Who are we to think we can make it this time? Do we really want to deal with that embarrassment? What will people think? What will they say? What if we fail again?
But we're not content where we are. The idols in Babylon just don't cut it. We're so "over" all that, that we are willing to uproot ourselves and make the perilous trek back to God.
But then . . . we realize we are looking at a pile of rubble. How do we begin again?

“Forget the former things;    do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?I am making a way in the wilderness    and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:18-19)

when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:21-24)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

God can do a new thing in our lives -- in fact, He is waiting to help us. To open the door to a new beginning.
With God, all things are possible.
I hope that this study will bless all who pause here.