God is collecting His anger over the sin of mankind in a cup of wrath (Jeremiah 25:15). He does declare, however, that He will not always strive with mankind or harbor His anger forever (Genesis 6:3). There will come a day, when He will unleash the furry of His wrath over the ravages of sin and He will take vengeance against all of those who caused innocent people to suffer and grieve. God collects all of our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8) and He will avenge every one of them (Romans 12:19).
In spite of His justice and
holiness, however, once we repent, God does not ever make us pay the
consequences we deserve for our sins. He covers us with the blood of Jesus and
He casts our sins as far as the east is from the west. How far is the east from
the west?
Imagine a plane flying
north. Once it reaches the North Pole, and follows the curve of the earth, it
will begin to head south. So, if God removed our transgressions from us as far
as the north is from the south, there would be a definite limit to His
forgiveness.
Now, imagine a plane flying
east. When does it start to fly west? At what point does the east meet the
west? It never does. There is no pole going east and west as there is going
north and south. The plane continues flying east until it lands or runs out of
fuel. It never, ever meets the west. That is exactly how far from us God
removes our sins. They will never catch up with us. They will never be returned
to us or be thrown back up into our face. They are gone forever.
Our Heavenly Father has
compassion on those who fear Him. Once we recognize the omniscience, the
omnipresence, the omnipotence of God, we realize how truly great He is. Our sin
caused Him to pay a debt, which He did not owe. He suffered persecution and
crucifixion for sin, which He did not commit.
The benevolence of the
perfect Lamb without spot or blemish paid our sin debt for us. Once the
enormity of His sacrifice pierces our heart, we fall on our face and repent of
our sins. This is when we are humbled by His love, grace and mercy, which we do
not deserve. We revere Him as He deserves to be worshipped. At
this point, with tears of awe and gratitude spilling down our cheeks, we make
up our mind to serve Him with every cell in our body for the remainder of our
life.
Prayer:
Lord
Jesus, you do not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.
You do not punish converted Believers for our sins.
You do not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. Thank you for Your unfailing love toward those who fear You, it is as great as
the height of the heavens above the earth. Thank you for removing our sins as far from us as the east is from the
west (Psalm 103:
9-13).Thought for the Day:
The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. – Psalm 103:13
