Dec 13, 2018
And the mighty angel
swore by him who lives for ever and ever, and said, "There will be no more
delay!" Rev 10:6
God's patience is not
permanent ... judgment is coming, so we need to repent now.
In 1st Timothy 1:16 – Paul tells Timothy that
Jesus gave unlimited patience to Paul because of his ignorance and
disobedience, and it was a sign of grace from heaven. Yet here in Revelations 10, we discover that
God’s patience is limited. Why the
contradiction?
Actually, both are correct, because they are talking about
two elements of patience.
1.
God is
patient when it comes to the volume of sin.
Since Jesus paid for ALL sins, God can be patient waiting for us to turn
from our sin and be rescued by His grace.
2.
God is not patient when it comes to the duration
of sin. Since Adam, every person has a
limited timeframe to choose – the length of their life – and at judgment, all
life will have reached the limit.
Sometimes we get the two mixed up. When we make a severe mess of our lives, we
tend to avoid church, shut down the whispers of conscience, and nit-pick at the
behaviors of anyone else that claims Christian faith. Yet we are also the ones that complain how
life is too short, and are appalled when someone’s life is shortened by the
sinful act of another. We have it
backwards -- God’s patience IS all-inclusive, but not permanent. He wants everyone saved, and sacrificed for
EVERYONE’S sins (no matter how heinous or voluminous), but the timeframe is
what’s short.
The longer we avoid repentance, the harder our hearts
get. Why do that to ourselves?
Jesus made it very simple. He did all the work. All we need to do is man up to the sin and
come with humility before Him, asking for forgiveness. Repentance doesn’t permit repetition, but God
is even patient with that. What God will
not do is be patient forever. His
holiness has a limit to sin: duration.
Christmas is a season we celebrate with joy & love. Maybe that’s also a good time to come back
before God and make this right with Him.
Start your new life now! Don’t
wait until it’s too late.
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