Reconciliation is not accidental

Seek God while he’s here to be found, pray to him while he’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and their evil way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness. (Isaiah 55:6 MSG)

God has mercy that far out reaches ours, doesn't he? Given our tendency to be impatient with other people, we'd want to cut off those 'sinners' and 'heathens' who refuse to heed his warnings, listen to his truth, or outright oppose his message. Did you ever stop to consider what would have happened if Jesus had of been that impatient with us? Seek God while he's here to be found. That is a pretty specific command with a pretty limited opportunity, is it not? It implies that God will not always wait - he will call for the day of judgment at some point. The question at hand is whether those who will hear will heed his call and reach out for his mercy. 

Mercy is available - now, at this moment, without delay. There is nothing we have to do to earn it. But there is something we need to do - we need to trust that he is the Son of God, and he has died for our sins. We don't have to understand his lavish forgiveness to receive it - we come to appreciate it more and more as we spend time with him AFTER we have received it. Abandoning our way of life (living according to this world's standards and following every whim of our heart) isn't without reward - but we must make an active choice to abandon the 'worthless' for the most 'worthwhile'.

Sin beckons - God's voice can be heard above the call of sin, though. He is right here, ready to be found, calling softly, but steadily. The Bible is full of 'second chances' and so it can be with us, as well. Sin has had us in its control for way too long - grace (mercy) is beckoning for all who will abandon sin's call to enter into its embrace. We don't have to wait for the 'right moment' to find God's forgiveness - the right moment is now. This passage isn't written to those who never knew God's grace - it is written to those who had tasted of his goodness and mercy, then allowed the pull of this world to bring complacency and apathy into their lives.

The message is one of reconciliation - we can and will be restored if we abandon their apathy. Reconciliation isn't accidental - it is an active choice of one willing to restore and one seeking what they once had. We might not realize drift has occurred in our choice to follow Jesus - growing cold little by little. If that has occurred, it isn't too late to 'come back' - we will find his mercy has not changed one bit! Just saying...