Don't Abuse the Patience of Christ

I am personally glad that God is patient, longsuffering, and full of mercy!

Not only for your sakes, but for my own, because you see I never want to forget that I spent 23 years in rebellion. God did not reward me according to what I deserved, instead he raised up intercessors to preach the gospel to me, and although I treated many of them very poorly, He also broke down my resistance, and eventually caused me to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I was eventually brought to praise and glorify and even preach the name of the very same Savior whom I had once despised and attacked. Even now I can only stop and wonder at that, and say 'isn't the mercy of God amazing?' That he would save those who were so far from the kingdom as to be smack dab in the middle of the enemy camp?!

We should marvel at the longsuffering mercy of God. But at the same time, we have to shake our heads at the stubborn self-destructive sinfulness of his creatures.

Let us remember that as Peter warned in 2 Peter 3 the patience and longsuffering of Christ is in order to give us time to repent, but while his patience is without par, it is not endless, Christ has promised that He will judge all who like the Pharisees, abuse His patience to their own destruction.