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The Father's Menu
Apostle Dr. Richard Udoh
Saturday, November 24, 2018
DEEPLY SHOWN MERCY
“Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger foreverâ€
Jeremiah 3:12
Main Text:
Today, the electric light bulb is a useful commodity. Story has it that one day the great inventor, Thomas Edison, with his team had labored for 24 straight hours to produce just one bulb. At the end, he handed it to a young helper who cautiously carried it upstairs. The young man was so nervous; the electric bulb dropped and broke. The team worked another 24 hours to make a replacement. When completed, Edison handed it to the same young helper to carry upstairs – a show of true trust and forgiveness.
It takes a good heart to forgive and forget offenses. Interacting with the Jews, God repeatedly demonstrated this attribute. The people of Judah were involved in multitude of sinful practices, mainly idolatry. As reflected in our text, the sin of idolatry is similar to harlotry. Judah was opportune to learn from the experience of the twelve tribes, whose comparatively milder sins (sin is a sin anyway) landed them in exile. Yet, they were obstinate enough to spurn divine threats and entreaties. Going by law’s demand, God should have done away with them (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). But mercy compelled Him to still reach them with a promise of receiving and blessing them if they returned to Him. Are you willing to turn back to God today?
God’s mercy is available for every sinner who returns to Him. It was His love and mercy that caused Christ to die and thereby “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross”, (Colossians 2:14).
God gives second chance to every sinner and backslider to return to Him and escape condemnation. People who reject God’s offer of mercy or take it for granted are foolish and will face eternal damnation. Please embrace His deeply shown mercy today.
Prayer: I will not reject you in my life O Lord
Further Reading: Jeremiah 3:1-12
Read through the Bible: Psalm 80 & II Corinthians 2