Repent And Respond To The Lord’s Invitation!
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesThe Bible records a number of sad scenes regarding men breaking God’s heart. For example, before the flood, God saw the wickedness of man and was “grieved in his heart” (Genesis 6:6). He was heartbroken with His chosen people when, after bringing them out of Egypt, they continued to go their own way, ignoring His pleas for them to return to Him.
God sent prophets and messengers to them, trying to get them to “reason” with Him (Isaiah 1:18) – to give up their wicked ways and return to Him. God has always held out His hands of love, even to “a rebellious people” (Isaiah 65:2).
Finally, God sent His beloved Son, who paid a terrible price in order to build a bridge so that “whosoever will” may come to the Father, through Him (Revelation 22:17 KJV; John 14:6). What did His people do in response to His tender invitation? They rejected His love and spurned His invitation. The Scriptures record, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11 KJV).
They would have none of His salvation plan for their future. They not only rejected His invitation (Matthew 11:29), they wanted to erase Him from their very presence and memory – so they crucified Him (Matthew 27:1-66; Mark 15:1-47; Luke 23:1-56).
He once looked over Jerusalem, wondering why they continued to shun His invitation, and wept at their spiritual blindness and unconcern (Matthew 23:37; Luke 19:41).
Revelation 3:20 pictures Jesus standing outside the “door” of the hearts of once faithful Christians, pleading for them to “open the door” so that He could come back into their hearts and lives.
Today, we see unfaithful members of the Lord’s church, such as those folks listed above, who are spurning the Lord’s invitation to return to Him.
If we are among them, let us sincerely repent and come back to the Lord. He is patiently waiting with open arms to welcome us back! (Luke 15:20).