For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. Psalms 103:11

A loving father knows that it is his responsibility to lovingly train and discipline his children. A child left to his own devices will get into all sorts of trouble. Unless a wise parent promptly teaches the child what to do to avoid trouble or at least to repent and make amends for it, the child will continue to stumble into one problem after another.

Part of wise parenting is to tell the difference between a childish error because of immaturity and childish rebellion because of temper. A child who spills his milk accidentally because he has not sufficiently developed the coordination to handle a cup neatly needs loving reassurance and help to clean up the mess and get more milk. A child who deliberately dumps the milk on the table because he doesn't want to drink it needs warning that this isn't acceptable behavior and a lesson in cleaning it up. A child who repeatedly dumps his milk in a rebellious temper tantrum needs swift punishment proportionate to the degree of rebellion.

Many a parent has learned a lesson in patience in dealing with such situations. No matter how many childhood battles have to be fought and won to teach the child how to behave in civilized company, a loving parent sticks it out and does his best to keep repeating the lessons until the child agrees to them and follows them of his own accord.

Unfortunately, some children are so strong willed and rebellious that they simply refuse to follow the standards of behavior that the parent is trying to teach him. They grow up into defiant teenagers who will do as they please no matter how angry the battles and how severe the punishment. At some point, the parent has to say, "Enough!" and really lower the boom, if the police and courts haven't done so already.

There comes a time in a person's life when he has to make a decision about what kind of person he will be. Will he be a kind, loving, law abiding person, or will he be a cruel, hateful criminal? To what degree will he carry out his choice?

Often this decision is made by degrees in childhood, as the child responds to the teaching and reactions of others to his actions. Sometimes it is made in a teenage or adult crisis, when circumstances are so extreme that change must be made. The decision to be saved may make a person do a 180 degree turnaround in attitudes and behavior. Whatever the circumstances, sooner or later a final decision must be made.

God is dealing with the human race this way. He loves us and longs to have us live with Him forever, but He has a standard of behavior that everyone must conform to. It is the same standard that He lives by, to love everyone and treat everyone with mercy and justice. When he adopts a person or a people to be a part of His family, they must conform to this standard or face His wrath. They always have the choice as to whether they will be His children, but once they agree to it, they must submit to correction if they sin.

Just as an earthly father must sometimes tell a rebellious child to leave the family home and not return until they are willing to submit to the family rules, God had to send Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden after they rebelled against Him and joined Satan's kingdom. The human race has been born into Satan's kingdom and estranged from God ever since except for the way back to Him through the Blood of Jesus Christ shed for us to redeem us by paying the price for our sins.

God shows great mercy towards those who choose to become His children and obey His commands. He doesn't want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to repent of their sins and stop hurting Him and each other. He wants to forgive us and cleanse us from our sins so much that He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins because we never could have done it ourselves.

It is better for the person to make this decision himself and make it for the good of himself and others. However, there comes a day of reckoning when God makes all choices final based on the person's attitude when his time to make his own choice comes to an end. If a person chooses to repent and be saved, the choice is permanent because God will guide and lift up His child if he falls into sin. God truly wants the best for the human children He has created, and will lovingly care for them if they agree to the adoption into His family.

For those who insist on continuing in lawless sin, proudly insisting that it is a matter of independent individuality, the choice will still be permanent. Earthly prisons are filled with people who insisted that they should live their lives as they pleased no matter how much harm they caused to others, and there is an eternal prison called Hell for people who still insist on it after the final deadline for change has passed.

For some, that deadline will be at death after the Holy Spirit has tried repeatedly to convince the person to change. For others, it will be made during their lifetime based on God's knowledge that the person has already made an unchangeable choice and will not repent no matter how many chances he might be given in the future. God will agree to this person's decision and stop trying to convince him to repent and be saved. They will be lost for eternity by their own will.

Unfortunately, because of Satan's lies, many people don't understand why God is going to intervene to stop the lawless activity of sinners. They think He is interfering with their lives, and they are right. He is interfering the same way that a judge interferes when the police arrest a criminal terrorizing a community and bring him before the judge. The same laws that are fetters to the criminal are freedom to the law-abiding citizens. The law that forbids the criminal to trespass on their rights protects their rights.

The law is not oppressive on those who choose to obey it, only on those who choose to break it. The reason God has to show mercy to us is because we keep breaking the law, even though the whole of the law is kept by loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

It only takes a small sin to open the door to worse sins. People who sin and get away with it tend to repeat their actions. That is why even the smallest sin can result in eternal damnation unless you accept the free gift of salvation and allow God to cleanse you and teach you His ways to mold your character into that of Christ. People will live for eternity and will either be sinlessly Christ-like or become progressively more corrupt with sin. God cannot stand sin! If you choose to cling to it as your right to be as you wish to be, He will grant your wish, but it means that you can't live in His presence. The only other place to live eternally is Hell.

Please consider that carefully when you decide where you live for eternity. God owns the Heavenlies as well as the Earth, and He has every right to decide who lives with Him. He will forgive you everything wrong you have done if you will just repent of it and accept the free gift of salvation.

Sadly, some will never agree to join His family. If you refuse, you will live in Hell with the other beings who also chose to cling to their sins instead of coming to God. They will be making each other miserable there just as they are doing here. Those who remain in Satan's kingdom and continue to offend the Lord by their lawless, destructive ways will be punished with Satan for the harm they have caused to God and their fellow humans.

Please don't be one of them. You do have the ultimate choice of what your future will be like. Please choose wisely and choose to repent and join God's family. Just pray this prayer:

Dear God, I'm sorry for my sins. I want to join your Heavenly family and I submit to King Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I renounce anything to do with Satan, his kingdom, and his ways. Please save me and adopt me as one of Your children. In Jesus' Name, Amen