Does God ever stop pursuing us? - Pursuit By God - TouchPoints
Jeremiah 3:1“If a man divorces a woman and she marries someone else, he is not to take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers,” says the Lord. “Yet I am still calling you to come back to me.”
Amos 5:4-6Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live! Don’t go to worship the idols of Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will come to nothing.” Come back to the Lord and live! If you don’t, he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely. Your gods in Bethel certainly won’t be able to quench the flames!
Zechariah 1:3Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.’
2 Peter 3:9The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent.
Romans 8:39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Psalm 89:2Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
God pursues us much farther and longer than any of us deserve. God’s love relentlessly calls everyone to repentance from sin and into an eternal relationship with him. While his desire is that none would perish, he allows us the freedom to return his love or to reject him and spend eternity apart from him and his love. The choice is yours.
Matthew 12:31-3631“Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.
Mark 3:28-2928 “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven,29 but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.”
Hebrews 9:27-2827 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Death marks the stopping point of God’s pursuit of us by his Spirit. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is ultimately expressed when we refuse to admit our sinful condition before God and accept his remedy. The possibility of repentance is there until the point of death, but then comes judgment, no other opportunities.