Wow that sounds so harsh when I write it down. I thought that God does not give up on people as He wants all to inherit His kingdom. Well, there is a caveat to God giving up. When we know and knowingly turn away, God may give up.
“21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened…24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” — Romans 1:21 & 24-25 (ESV)
When we know better and still do it, that indicates a choice. That choice God has given to us creating for us free will. We can choose to follow Him or not. As with all choice, there are consequences to our choices, some good and some not so good. Choosing not to follow God and the principles He has for us will result in not so good consequences. God is not giving up on me, He is just allowing me to move forward with my choice and He will not support me in that endeavor.
“28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” — Romans 1:28-31 (ESV)
The unrighteous are filled with many things that turn them away from God. With those we have to recognize the consequence and know that God will allow us to choose those unrighteous things.
God may give us up to those unrighteous things, however that is not the end. We have the chance, always, to turn back to Him and devote our lives to Him once again. We are never forgotten. We are all God’s children and have the chance to come to Him at any time. When we do, He will welcome us with open and comforting arms.
What unrighteous things are you taking part in? Are you expecting that God will just stop you? What if you chose to honor God as opposed to being against Him, would you not avoid God’s giving you up to those unrighteous things?
Trevor's Thoughts 