Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. (NLT)
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.(ESV)
I wanted to give two different translations because one breaks the scripture down in layman's terms while the other uses the word compassion. That’s what I want to discuss today, the compassion of God. But first let’s define the word itself.
Compassion-a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
The ESV translations describes this compassion as mercy, so let’s define that as well.
Mercy-compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence; an act of kindness, compassion, or favor:
The door of forgiveness is always open. I started out with a vocabulary lesson because I need you to grasp this. I need you to understand, how God’s mercy has led us to where we are today. In the Scripture He is telling us that the door of forgiveness is always open. That when we turn to the Lord He will have mercy on us, or he will show compassion towards us. He’s saying turn to me from your wicked ways and I will have compassion on you.
I love that God says, all we have to do is turn from our wicked ways and He will have compassion on us and pardon us. He’s not telling us to be perfect or anything like that, He’s saying turn from your wicked ways, and I’ll handle the rest. When I look at the definition of compassion I am immediately drawn to the part of the passage that says, “Accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate suffering”. So when I think of compassion, I think of how amazing God is, He doesn’t want us to suffer, so He will pardon our sin so that we will not have to. I’m not sure if you know but living a life of sin, or a life away from God is a life of struggle. Sin carries such misfortune and shame. We as a people were stricken by this misfortune since the fall (in Genesis when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree). God looks at us, His children and He cannot help to watch us suffer. Rather than watch us suffer He is stricken by the strong desire to alleviate our suffering, to put an end to our pain. All we have to do is turn from our wicked ways. What that means is turning from the very things that are killing us, turning from the things that causes our soul to struggle and toil within us. Until we turn from our wicked ways we will continue to suffer. However we do not have to. Sometimes we choose to suffer because we feel like we need to be punished. That’s the exact opposite of grace. I have come across people who feel that they deserve to suffer. Shame has gotten a hold of their heart and they feel that they are not worthy of compassion. They feel like they have to suffer their time to make it up to God. Shame and guilt has no home in our hearts. God does not desire for us to walk through life carrying the burden of guilt and shame. As a matter of fact He tells us to give those burdens to Him. When He said that He didn’t mean half of the burdens He meant all of them. We are not meant to carry some burdens. We’ll easily give Him the burden of worry, the burden of pain, but why is it so hard to let go of our guilt and shame? We act as if God cannot handle them when it’s really us who cannot handle it. So why not turn away from our wicked ways and give all of those burdens over to God.. No matter what you have done in your past, it is not God’s will that you continue to suffer.
All this to say, do not allow yourself to be condemned. KNow that the door of forgiven is always open, god wants to forgive us because He does not want us to suffer. We are not meant to suffer because of our past, if we’re going to suffer at least let it be about something in the present day and time. The compassion of God is beautiful and we cannot help but to be moved by it. He loves us so much. He wants us to live a life free of suffering and that means free of sin, so He will pour out His grace upon us, pardoning us, and allowing His compassion to spill out all over us. It’s compassion that got us where we are today. Without it we would continue to suffer in our sin and never knowing what life really is. We are not overcome by sin because Jesus overcame sin.
Response/Prayer Time
Continue this conversation and discussion. Respond in whatever way you feel led. Have a conversation with God, thank Him for His grace and mercy and walk with Him all the days of your life. Take the time to talk to and have a conversation with god. Pray in whatever way you feel led. If you feel the need to turn away from your wicked ways. If you’d like to give your life to Christ, I’d like to give you the opportunity to do so right now.
your life to Him.
If that’s you, if you want to make that decision today, pray this prayer with me.
“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”
If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
I love you and I hope you have an amazing Day or Evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ, know that all the angels in heaven are rejoicing! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 253!
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