The Real Meaning of Life

You can return at any time.

There is not one of us who is without sin. No matter how hard we try to be righteous, sin creeps in. In fact, in most cases, the closer we get to God, the harder Satan works to tempt us and draw us away. He doesn’t want us close to God; he wants us on his side. The side of sinners, the side of eternal death.

How we react to our own sin is ultimately how God determines how good we are. Even David, one of God’s favorites, committed adultery and murder, and I believe he will be saved because he acknowledged his sin, he repented, and he returned to God. When we sin, we have to get right back up and get on track again. If we stay down, Satan wins. And for me personally, it’s a battle between me and Satan; I won’t let him win.

But if we let our sins get us down and give up, Satan wins. Everyone sins. You are not only. But like David, you have to acknowledge your sin, pray for forgiven, repent, and return to God. And God will accept us.

So when we backslide, as Israel has done, and we will, if we confess, repent, and return, God will accept us back.

God compares Israel to a woman that has left her husband. She will surely find other men and sleep with them, and when she tires, she might want to return to her husband (and this isn’t gender specific, it could be a husband wanting to return to his wife). Would you take them back after they’ve been sleeping with others? After they’ve lain in other beds?

Well, God will.

Verse 14: “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. “Return, you backsliding children, And I will heal your backslidings.”

Even though we stray from God, even though we are unfaithful to Him, He will always take us back.

But wait? Doesn’t God punish and even kill those who sin? Hmmm, doesn’t sound like it to me. Sounds to me like God is willing to do anything to get you to return to Him. Reading the Old Testament, you keep reading about an angry God, a wrathful God, a furious God. He commanded Achan to be stoned to death just for theft. He killed Nadab and Abihu because the lit an unlawful incense. He killed Uzzah for touching the Ark of the Covenant. He is a tyrant, just waiting to punish someone for their sins! Of course, this is sarcasm. Those things do not match the character of the God I believe in, and that is why I always try to find an alternate perspective to every bad thing I read about God; either the translation is bad, the author misconceived God’s intent, or I’ll go so far to say that the author was under a great deal of stress when he authored his book or chapter of the Bible.

We can’t have it both ways; we can’t have a God that kills His children for minor sins, yet is merciful enough to take back His children that have committed idolatry, adultery, and even murder.

God tells us Himself, “‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.” So why do we continue to believe in a God that is angry? Why do we listen to pastor’s who tell us that we have to fear God?

As I’ve said, Satan will resort to anything to discredit God. I believe Satan even tempted some of the Bible’s authors, or translators, or teachers to portray God in this light. He wants to make it sound as if God is a tyrant, in fact, that was his lie to Eve, that God was holding them back by forbidding them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. They believed Satan when he told them that if they ate, they would be like God. And he has been lying ever since, and I have no expectation that he will quit.

God is love. He wants us to be His children. And He will bring us home at any time, no matter how badly we have defiled ourselves.