And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever…” Genesis 6:3
A Message to the Non-Believer
What does it mean that God will not strive with man forever? Well aside from the obvious negative connotation, it means that God contends with and pursues after every single one of us, for the purpose of saving our souls and He does so for a distinguishable period of time.
English poet and ascetic, Francis Thompson (1859-1907), put it this way:
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the year
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vista’d hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasm’d fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat — and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet
“All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”
(*From the ‘Hound of Heaven’)
Wow.
“Strong Feet that followed after, with unhurrying chase and unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, majestic instancy, they beat and a Voice beat more instant than the Feet.”
Can you imagine?
He Stops.
God’s quest for our lost souls does not last perpetually. God ends His pursuit when we end our search; when we permanently close and seal the door to Jesus and the Spiritual knowledge that saves a man leads us to salvation. At this point the engagement will cease and hearts will be hardened. That’s what happened to Pharaoh.
Remember when the Lord said to Moses (regarding Pharaoh), “I have hardened his heart…” (Exodus 10:1)?
We know from the Genesis account that God pursued Pharaoh’s heart for a long while. Pharaoh was given numerous opportunities to repent and turn to God and each time he refused. There came a point when the Father knew this man was not going to change, and thus hardened his heart. It was Pharaoh’s choice, but God sealed the deal.
Today, Pharaoh’s error is our paradigm — what God did to Pharaoh, He will do to you if you continue to refuse His grace and gift. It’s what He calls the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.” Matthew 12:31
Blasphemy of this kind is not a onetime event; it’s the continual refusal and denial of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Those guilty of the offence are subject to eternal damnation. And just so we’re all on the same page, God does not condemn these folks, they effectively condemn themselves.
God is Not Cruel
“Is it too late; has God already hardened my hard heart?”
The answer is easy to discern.
Read this Bible verse:
Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2b
Now ask yourself, “Do I still possess the ability to make a choice? Am I still able to change my mind?
If you accept the notion that now is the time for you to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it is not too late. If you are willing to change your mind, God will change your heart. In other words, your willingness is a sign that your heart has not been hardened.
But what if now is not my time — what if I still have tomorrow?
All I can say to that is that thousands and thousands of people, young and old, died yesterday believing that they’d still have today, having bought into satan’s subtle lie, “There’s no rush.”
Is This Your Last Chance?
I don’t know, but I’m curious, “Why are you here?”
Oh, I don’t mean why are you here in a cosmic, philosophical kind of way, but why are you here, in a Christian forum, reading a Christian blog, when you don’t yet believe in Jesus Christ? Might I suggest to you that you were led here by the Holy Spirit because your time has come and that the day of your salvation has arrived.
I don’t know.
What I do know is that the choice is still yours and that God will not strive with you forever.
Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages… Isaiah 49:8
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