We’re changing gears in this article in order to touch on a subject that may hit home for those of you who are currently reading this or listening to the audio message. Some of us believers have returned to bondage or some of you who are unbelievers are still in bondage and this article is meant to encourage you and give you a hope.

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 – ESV)

If you are stuck in a lifestyle of sins and you are able to read this, know that God’s mercy is truly upon you. And let’s make no mistake about it, every single person who is living right now is doing so by the mercy of God for not one of us deserves to live day after day. But as the above verse reads, God is patient and enduring with us because He wants whoever will to be able to come to repentance and experience the forgiveness of sins through His Son Jesus Christ. You may think that God is some sort of sadistic or masochistic God that is ready to punish you but understand that His character is such that He will not send a person to hell without first trying to save that person.

Yes, you may have sinned after you were converted in Christ and if you are an unbeliever, you may find yourself committing sin after sin. But the Lord wants to rescue you and deliver you. Consider the story of the prodigal son that shows the true heart of God.

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
(Luke 15:11-24 – ESV)

What a story! This very story touched my life several years ago when I was living a life of sin after I had walked away from God during my teens and continued in my rebellion against Him in my early 20s. And this was the story in the Bible that got me to follow Christ again. This was the story, that when I read it, I saw myself as the prodigal son and it had a powerful impact on me.

I was raised in the church and knew God at an early age. And I began to backslide during my teens. I remember having an arrogance and when I used to see people doing wrong, I condemned them in my heart. Think of how humbling it was for me when I actually became one of those people I had condemned. Long story short, I didn’t know how far I had gotten from the Lord until He convicted me. Had He not pursued me, I don’t know where I would be today.

I was the prodigal son and I remember reading this story when I had hit the lowest point in my life. It brought tears to my eyes and moved me. Because I was one of those who thought I had gone too far and past the point of no return. Indeed, we must understand that there can come a time for the sinner when God’s mercy will no longer be there. But God had so much mercy on me and even after I repented and would sin from time to time, his mercy was still there. God is merciful and loving God. If He wasn’t I wouldn’t have the ability to even write these words for I would have already been in hell, and deservedly so.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth.  Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
(Jonah 3:1-10 – ESV)

This is the heart of God my friends. Think about this scenario in Jonah. God is ready to wipe these people of Nineveh out because of their wickedness. But when they repent and humble themselves before Him, something happens with God. He is so touched by the fact that they are willing to turn away from their wickedness that He decides He is no longer going to destroy the city. Does this seem like a God who is ready at a moment’s notice to hurl lightning bolts at people from the heavens or is this a God who just wants people to repent? For those of you who are sinning, God is reaching out to you and is willing to forgive you if you turn to Him.

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