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Health & Fitness

The Longsuffering of God

God makes his appeals to us via our consciences. But many people's consciences has been seared. So how does God reach us when our consciences are impaired.

 “And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.” -2 Peter 3:15

When I was younger in Christ, I asked many, many, many questions. What I loved to do more than anything is to question everything and get into arguments. The big sin that I had at the time was the pride of winning arguments. See at this point in my walk with Christ, I thought that many so-called Christians simply did not engage their intellect with their faith. I’ve always believed that your faith should constantly challenge your intellect and propel you further than what your intelligence can carry because if God is indeed Creator, He is the most intelligent being in existence. And if He’s Intelligent, then we can honor God by using our own intelligence. But what I didn’t like was this crutch of emotion; clinging to tears, cries and sweat while swaying away in church pews. Or even worse, the clear manipulation of some preachers who would preach richness to the poor in order to take away their last dollars in coins in the promise that God wants them to so these tired souls to finally taste some sort of richness in this life. This leaves many followers into pursuits not fueled by the search for Truth, but rather a pursuit fueled by carnal fulfillment- no matter how beautifully wrapped in spiritual jargon.

So it was with this foul taste in the mouth that I would find out the ‘Whys’ and ‘Hows’ of God. I was actually trying to find out why God chose me when I absolutely hated Him. Why he would take a street-wise, hustling smart-aleck and put him up in a fertile Atlanta suburb- complete with a large bed and matching sheets and pillows? What indeed does God use to get our attention and pull us close to Him?

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So the very first Christian writer that really appealed to my intellect was this theologian named A.W. Tozer- when he wrote this book called “Echoes of Eden.” I really liked this book because it was challenging, but it said some things in there that I simply couldn’t agree with at the time. See, it went on and on about the human conscience and how God appeals to the conscience. And I thank God that I lived with my father and that he’s a pastor and well-respected bible teacher. Why? Because I stormed in that kitchen and said that the book must be wrong! I mean, really wrong! God cannot entrust our entire eternal destiny on something as flimsy as our consciences.

So you may ask why I was so adamant against the exclusivity of the Gospel’s appeal to the Conscience? Because I started to think of some people I knew growing up. Some of these people actually told me that they had no conscience and by the way they acted, I believed them. I’ve known people with such insane hatred and bloodlust that they would do the unimaginable. That conscience? So God is appealing to the conscience of those who truly believe in their hearts that Christianity is evil? Or to that drug addict who would sell their baby’s future to get high for 35 minutes? Or that person who would kill their family so they can be free to go out without a curfew and have their lovers over to the house without their parents nagging them? That conscience?! God is appealing to that flimsy, vile thing?

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But this actually God’s appeal: That He constantly, consistently pursues you and appeals to your conscience- even if it’s set against Him. I think back on my own life: When I hated Him, He was there. When I wanted to do my own thing- He was there. When I’ve reached the end of myself and wanted something more than what the world offered- He was there. Why? Because even though one Word from God is enough for salvation, His Longsuffering is our salvation. Christ suffers long by looking through all the evil and hatred in our hearts in order to give us Love, Healing and Salvation.

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