I like a good story. I think we all do. We love the height of suspense in a mystery. The thrill of accomplishment when the underdog rises up and does something great. We love the sweetness of a romance that blossoms and grows. We all love to watch a story about a dog. (What is it about those sweet puppy faces that strikes us at the very root of our hearts? I wish I knew the answer to that, but that is what keeps me coming back to raise another puppy for Leader Dogs for the Blind.)
When we read a good story or we watch a good movie, don’t we sometimes want to tell the characters what to do or how to respond? We want to tell them what is lurking around the corner.
I just finished reading through Kings and Chronicles in the Bible. There is a constant theme throughout these books. You will either see “and they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Or they did what was right in the sight of the Lord.” The latter is not seen as often as the former.
As I finished up II Chronicles, I read an amazing verse.
“The Lord, the God of their fathers sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place.” (II Chronicles 36:15).
What do we notice about God in this verse? He is persistent and compassionate. God never gives up on His people.
As we read through Kings and Chronicles, we see that God allows His people to suffer because of their sin. He punishes them for the sinfulness of their ways. They reap the consequences of their choices. They experience hardship in so many different ways because of their sin. They experience famine, invasion, captivity, plundering of their goods, heavy taxation and rule by their very own kings, etc. They saw their children being taken away into captivity because of the sinful choices they made.
But God…He never stopped loving them. He never stopped pursuing them. He never stopped sending messengers to remind them of who He was.
He never stops having compassion on us.
In our relationship with God, are we selfish? Do we pray through our list of requests, never thanking Him for the things He gave to us the day before?
Do we see people running from God and think to ourselves, “that’s too bad?” or do we cry out to God on their behalf asking Him to continue to have compassion on them. Asking Him to work in their hearts and lives and not stop sending to them messengers. Maybe we are the messengers.
The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) remembered the kindness of his father. His father never stopped praying and watching for his son to come back. God kept watching for the children of Israel to come back to Him. He never gave up on them.
Do we give up? Do we wonder when to stay on the porch as the father in the prodigal son did, and when to chase after the wayward son?
God is faithful. He never stops loving us and having compassion for us, even when we go astray. Yet, He never forces us to love Him. He never forces us to serve Him. He never forces us to follow after Him. He doesn’t beg and plead for us to yield our whole hearts to Him, yet He tells us that if we do we will find so much more peace and joy.
We like a happy ending. No one wants the dog to die at the end of the movie.
God also wants each of us to have a happy ending. He knows that the only way for this to happen is to follow Him. To seek His face. To fear Him.
Where are you in your walk with God? As a believer, we are on a journey. This journey is called progressive sanctification. We will never arrive until we get to heaven.
Do you need to make that journey back home like the prodigal did? The compassionate and persistently loving Father is waiting for you.
