Is God’s patience unlimited?

In a sense it is. His mercy triumphs over judgment. Our Savior’s blood washes even the dirtiest sinner clean. His open and welcoming arms have given hope even to such notorious rebels as King Manasseh and Saul the persecutor

But when the repenting stops, when people stubbornly and persistently reject his grace and mercy, when they show by words and deeds that they want no part of a relationship with the God of Israel, the Lord pronounces the ultimate judgment—he lets people have what they want. “Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them. When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them. They are unfaithful to the Lord” (Hosea 5:5-7).

The prophet Amos called it a “famine of hearing the Word of God.” God essentially brings an early judgment day on people who have rejected him so persistently and so long that he hardens them in their attitude so that they can’t change. They are frozen in their defiance. He actually takes his Word from them.

If that concept worries you, if you dread that it could happen to you, then it won’t. Your heart is still soft; faith still lives there. Give all your sins to Jesus today, right now, and claim the forgiveness he bought for you.