27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us

31 because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.”

— Acts 17:27, 31

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

— Luke 19:9-10

The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

— 2 Peter 3:9

Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

— Romans 2:4

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Israel chose wayward living that led to worshipping foreign gods. Our world today offers many alluring distractions that lead people away from God and toward self-worship. God intervened with judgment upon Israel, and our world still faces a future day of the Lord that will bring His final judgment. But God, who is never far off, is always pursuing us and calling us to repentance.

God is calling you to return to Him. Let’s flow repentance from our hearts to our lips to God’s ear, as He stoops to pour His love over us. There are changes we would like to make for preparing our hearts for worship that focuses fully on God. There are ways to lean on God’s power to strive for excellence in our service to Him. There are lesser loves we would like to give up for diving deeply in God’s Word. And there are ways for us to seek God first and give Him our best. And let’s respond when God stirs us to urgently share His love with those who do not yet know Him.