Why This Matters | Love Letters

The Lord is … patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9

If God had a Top Ten List, guess what would be at the #1 spot. We don’t have to guess because God had people write it down for us. God’s greatest desire is that all of His creation would display His magnificent glory. That matters because the glory of God is the ultimate good. No glory, no good. So the sky does it. The synchronized dance of time and seasons and planetary rotation does it. The life cycle, water cycle, and energy cycles do it. But when it comes to humanity, we blow it. Human beings are the crown of God’s creation, modeled after Him. But we refuse to display His glory, opting for our own. We offer ourselves to sin and it alienates us from God. He offered Himself as a sacrifice so that our repentance can draw us back.

The Bible documents God’s work with humanity since time began. It is one long story of God’s creation, man’s rebellion, and God’s plan to reconcile sinful man to Himself. The story is told through a thousand illustrations of real people like us who encountered God in different ways. By watching their stories unfold—good and bad—we discover more about God. Despite all the different experiences people in the Bible had, a single theme emerges: God calls, we respond, consequences follow depending upon that response. When people obeyed and honored God, He was pleased with them and used them to accomplish great things. When they turned away from Him, He brought judgement designed to produce repentance.

Final Thought:  Repentance is the doorway into God’s presence. We should walk through it often.

Prayer: Father, I have let some sins build up in my soul without asking your forgiveness. I’m ready to live with a clear conscience, so I confess _________ and turn away from it. Because Jesus is my Lord and Savior, please forgive me. Amen.