Alfred Nobel became interested in explosives at an early age. In 1867, he patented dynamite and began a rather lucrative career manufacturing explosive devices. While dynamite can have various uses, it soon became used as a devastating weapon of war.

Legend has it that Nobel opened a newspaper one day and saw his own obituary! Actually, it was his brother Ludwig who had died, but the newspaper made a mistake and printed Alfred’s obituary. Nobel was horrified at the extremely unflattering biography of his life. It said that Nobel had made a fortune manufacturing a product that was used to kill many people.

Alfred Nobel did not want that to be his life story, so he spent the rest of his life trying to establish a positive legacy. When he died in 1896, he left half of his wealth—which would have been over a half a billion dollars in today’s money—to establish the now famous Nobel Prizes. Alfred Nobel effectively re-wrote his story.

If you got off to a bad start or have a past that you regret for some reason, there is still time to re-write your story.

Many people in the Bible re-wrote their stories. As a young adult Moses killed a man, but he is better known as the one who lead God’s people out of captivity to the promised land. Rahab the prostitute joined forces with God’s people and became a part of the lineage of Christ. King David committed adultery but repented and is known as a man after God’s own heart. After meeting Jesus, Zaccheus turned from a life of greed and gave half of his wealth to the poor. Before his conversion Paul persecuted the church. After his conversion he became a great church planter and preacher of the gospel. Peter famously denied Christ but was later restored by the resurrected Jesus and given the important task of feeding Jesus’ sheep.

There are many other examples of people in the Bible who were given a chance to re-write their story. Sadly, not all of them took the opportunity that was given them.

However, the Scriptures make it plain that God is a God of second chances, which is wonderful news to anyone who needs a second chance.

Do you need to re-write your story? Don’t waste another day! Start right now to build the kind of legacy you would like to leave for your family, your community and the kingdom of God!