Isaiah 30:18
But the Lord is eager to be gracious to you. He waits on high to have mercy on you, for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who long for him.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for these words; we learn more about you in them—you are eager to give us your grace. Our sins push us away from you; without you, John tells us we are condemned already. You established your rules which you also follow; you gave us your will for us in your commands. In those commands, we were to show our love for you by following your directions, but there were consequences for not following them, “For when you eat of the fruit, you will surely die.” We are similar to Adam and Eve; we often desire to be our own gods that we know better than you. Why do we have this job? Why this life? Why this house? Why? Why?
But in all our sinful ways, you didn’t leave us in our condemnation. You sent your Son to carry out your plan of salvation for us. Jesus came and lived the perfect life, serving you without sin, and then went to the cross to suffer for all the ways we worship ourselves and make everything in our world more important than you. Jesus suffered that cross so the world would have a complete pardon for all their sins. However, it comes to each person by their faith in your Son, our Savior. And you eagerly wait for us to overcome our stubbornness, realize our sin, and ask you for forgiveness so that you can lavish us with your grace and mercy, even when we are completely undeserving of your love.
We also hear of your justice; you did not let sin go unpunished, and Jesus took our punishment into himself, so all who long for you are forgiven, while those who reject you will face their punishment. So please keep us always in your love and mercy. Also, let us share your love and forgiveness with those who do not know or might reject you; give us the words to say so they will know and trust in Jesus’ forgiveness and receive your mercy. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
God has every reason to be angry at us for our sins, but he eagerly awaits and desires to come to us, so we trust him, ask for his forgiveness, and have everlasting life.