Daily Meditation - Saturday 21June 2008 - THE UNFAILING CONSISTENCY OF GOD'S LOVING MERCY

[BarbaraTherese]

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St. Aloysuis Gonzaga here

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Meditation

Saturday, June 21, 2008

2 Chronicles 24:17-25

“I will not take my love from him, nor will I betray my bond of loyalty.” (Psalm 89:34)

After the death of the high priest Jehoiada, who had been a faithful and wise guide, King Joash turned from the Lord and began to serve idols.

• Not only did he make this choice for himself but he led his entire nation astray.
• After such significant sin,
• wouldn’t God have been justified in turning his back on Joash?

But God is not only just; he is merciful!

• The fact is that God didn’t turn his back on Joash,
• not even to the end.
• He sent the prophet Zechariah to reprove Joash and to give him the chance to repent.
• But Joash had him killed.
• God then allowed the Arameans to defeat Joash’s much larger force as another chance for Joash to consider his actions and turn back to the Lord;
• however, he died unrepentant.

No matter what, God’s mercy was consistent. He didn’t want Joash to die in sin! Instead, he actively pursued Joash with an ambitious desire for reconciliation.

• But even that’s not the end of the story!
• In the years that followed, God continued to woo his people,
• pursuing them persistently through the words of the prophets and the events of their lives.
• He never gave up—
• and never gives up, even to the point of sending his Son into the world for our salvation!
  We all have times when we feel weighed down by sin. We may feel incapable of turning to the Lord.
• We may even wonder if God has abandoned us.
• Yet even in those times, God has not given up.
• He is still reaching out to us, offering mercy and forgiveness.
• The amazing thing is that this mercy is not just something we receive once we have already turned back to him.

*** The truth is, it was his mercy that stirred us to turn back to him in the first place!***

• This is how deeply God loves us.
• He is always pouring out mercy,
• telling us that it’s never too late to turn back!
  “Father, I am indebted to your mercy.
  Even when I feel at my worst, you call me back to you.
  Even when I have allowed my heart to become hard,
  you soften me and help me to turn back to you.
  Lord, I love you!”