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As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on them that fear Him. - Psalm 103:13
I was explaining the Gospel to a young woman who had not as yet made a commitment to Jesus. The one stumbling block that was preventing her from accepting the Gospel was as she said, "I can't understand how someone who has done horrible things like murder, rape and child molestation can receive God's forgiveness."
I answered, "If you had a child that did those things and he came to you genuinely repentant and begged for your forgiveness, would you forgive him?"
She replied in an instant, "Well, yes, I would forgive him because he was my child."
I smiled. "Do you see? It is the same way with God. He is our loving Father and He will always forgive any sin, no matter how vile, if there is genuine repentance, because He loves us and sees all those who are willing to come to Him through the Messiah Jesus as His children."
She understood immediately and the barrier that had prevented her from receiving Jesus as her Savior was removed.
God looks at the heart and many of us that see ourselves as "righteous" are sometimes actually just as vile in our thought lives as those we deem as gross sinners. We need to remember that the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet" was meant to explore those inner motives that would disqualify us from entrance to Heaven and God's holy presence.
The Word of God tells us in Romans 3:23 that, "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." All of us must come to God humbly, willing to repent of our sins and be forgiven through the love He has exemplified for us though the sacrifice of the Messiah Jesus for our sins.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life .- John 3:16
Copyright 2014 by H. D. Shively Return to Devotionals | Return to Cafe Logos Homepage |
