The Patience of God

2 Peter 3 : 8 - 9, But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. NKJV

God told Hosea that His people are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge. When believers don't know God's ways or His Word, it leaves them susceptible to Satan's devices. In other words, Satan can use spiritual ignorance against us because it gives him an upper hand in the battle. Therefore, we are commanded by Jesus to know His Word and keep it so that we won't sin against it.

Are you a Christian, yet you still have unrepentant sin in your heart? Or, you might have a loved-one or friend who is living in sin and doesn't see or feel the need to repent for their actions. In every instance, sin has consequences; we know this because Paul tells us in Romans 3, "The wages of sin is death." James also warns us that when sin is conceived, it brings forth death. Even so, you may not see death immediately as a result of unrepentant sin in your heart, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. 

When God warned Adam about the tree of knowledge, He told him that in the day that he partook of it, he would surely die. We know from reading Genesis 3 that Adam didn't die right away. In fact, he lived 930 years. Doesn't it seem as though God might have missed it just a little? Adam saw many days come and go, but never experienced the word that the Lord had spoken to him about sin? 

As you have read in today's scripture, many, not knowing the ways of God mistake His patience as slackness. When God came and asked Adam if he had eaten of the forbidden fruit, it wasn't because God didn't already know; God knows before you or I commit a sin what we're going to do. Therefore, He has placed warnings in His Word to try to prevent us from opening our lives to sin, regret, and death. God was offering Adam an opportunity to confess his sin, but Adam didn't.

When it comes to unrepentant sin that goes seemingly unchecked and without consequences, America is living on borrowed time. Millions of babies have been aborted in the name of convenience; and immorality such as fornication, adultery, and homosexuality has become the norm in our modern times... even though God's Word warns of the repercussions of such sins. Nevertheless, because nothing has happened to this nation, like it did in Sodom and Gomorrah, we continue on as if sin has become acceptable in God's eyes now. God has been longsuffering toward our sin so that we have the time to come to our senses and repent before it's too late. However, our society has mistaken His patience as slackness or compliance. There's a false sense of security that nothing "bad" will happen because we have been committing these sins for decades and life continues on.

Even so, Paul warns us in his letter to the Thessalonica, "When the world says peace and safety, sudden destruction shall come upon them, and they shall not escape." Let us repent as individuals and as a nation before sudden destruction comes upon us. Let us not mistake God's patience as Him going along with our sins or winking at them. In Adam's case, it appeared as though God had missed it. Nevertheless, let me remind you what Peter said in today's scripture. In the context, he was addressing a day with the Lord as being one-thousand years; God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance. How long did we say Adam lived? He lived 930 years! How long is a day with the Lord? It is 1,000 years!  Consequently, we see that Adam fell short of living one day. In plain speech, he died in the day that he had eaten of the fruit of sin, just like God foretold. 

Do we really want to keep tempting the Lord God with our unrepentant sin? Absolutely not! This devotion was taken from a sermon the Lord had me to preach at WHCN recently. I invite you to go to our website and watch it in its entirety. "Where Was God When Lives Were Lost?" It is a powerful Word on the goodness of God and how it brings us to repentance. America needs the goodness of God, not to stimulate our economy, but to stimulate our hearts to begin to repent and seek His heart, instead of sin.

Please consider forwarding this message to your family and friends so that we can join together and pray for God to grant this great nation repentance and spiritual restoration. "Lord, turn our hearts away from lust and sin and grant us the convicting power of the Holy Spirit so that we will be drawn once again into your presence and protection. In Jesus' name, we pray and agree. Amen!

Sounding a Wakeup Call,
Pastor Asa Dockery