ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

14:16-24). Sadly, they all began to make excuses for not being able to attend it. One wanted to check out a piece of land just purchased. Another wanted to try out some new oxen while a third had just married and needed to stay with his wife. This brings to mind the story of two Sunday fishermen who heard church bells ringing in the distance. One said, contritely, “You know Sam, we really ought to be in church.” Sam, while re-baiting his hook said, “Well, I couldn’t go anyway. My wife is sick.” 79 Accord- ing to Ben Franklin, “He that is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else.” 80 What’s your excuse?What’s keeping you from a thriving relationship with Christ? He’s not going to give up on you. Knowing that God loves you and that you cannot hide from Him, be on the lookout for a merciful persistence, as indicated by the man’s next move. He could have immediately disappeared into the night with- out making any second effort to reach her. Instead, the man “Ex- tended his hand through the opening” in her door (Song of Solomon 5:4). Oh, how much he missed her. Oh how he yearned to reunite with her. Once Adam and Eve sinned and hid in the garden, God came to them.The OldTestament is basically a journal of God keeping His unconditional covenant with Abraham despite the serial disobe- dience of the Israelites; and what the Israelites weren’t able to do as a nation, God did through one Man, His Son the God-man on the cross. Jesus taught of God’s unconditional love for His people by way of the parable of the prodigal son. In case you don’t remember, the wayward son takes his inheritance prematurely and bolts for a distant land. After running out of money, the son humbly returns home. Instead of a stern lecture with an “I told you so” sprinkled in, the father responded with hugs and kisses, after which he lavishly clothed his son and called for a big celebration (see Luke 15:20-24).

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