Never Banished

I have read the Bible cover to cover scores of time. Given that, you would think I would remember more, be better, know it all by heart. However, each time I read it, old passages jump out at me as though they were brand new, as though I had never seen them, as though they had something relevant to say to me NOW! For example, I was on my Elliptical Trainer while reading my Bible yesterday when this verse stopped me in my tracks:

2 Samuel 14:13-14 NIV
[13] The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son? [14] Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

Hooray! Just like the son spoken of in that verse, there is a way out of destruction! We don't need to remain banished! We can choose reconciliation! I know so many people who tell me of how so-and-so disappointed them, so they cut off all relationship with so-and-so, as though they themselves have never disappointed someone else! We are all sinners! We are all creeps sometimes. Fortunately, banishing others from our presence is NOT what God desires! He devises ways that the banished person does not remain banished. And He longs for us to remain in communion with Him as well, despite the fact that we are often creeps. He has devised ways that we can return to Him; it is indeed what He longs for. I don't know about you, but that makes me want to dance.

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The Lord says, “Come, let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. Though your sins are deep red, they can be white like wool. (Isaiah 1:18 NCV)

He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:30, 31 NIV)



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