Spend a few hours on a busy freeway and you'll see a broad swath of human tendencies. You'll see people graciously letting others merge into their lanes (and some people still wave thanks!), and you'll see people angrily cutting other people off, or refusing to allow someone to merge, not wanting anyone else to get ahead. Usually behavior on the freeway is reciprocal -- what one person does to another, they'll often receive. But let's all be honest -- when we see someone get pulled over after driving particularly aggressively, we all take some pleasure in that, right? The sense of justice offers satisfaction.
Here, God is telling us that God's ways are different than our own. God is ready to abundantly pardon -- the unrighteous and wicked are invited to return to the Lord, and told to expect compassion, not punishment. God isn't keeping score and ready to ensure things are set equal -- God is a loving parent ready to welcome wayward children back into loving arms.
There's a challenge here for us. Part of this is how we look at those in the world who we consider wicked and unrighteous. Do we see them as beloved children that God is ready and willing to abundantly pardon? And the other part is that we need to recognize that we are wicked and unrighteous as well, that we have the same root problem as anyone else. All have sinned and fallen short, so we need abundant pardoning as well. None can claim God's grace on their own merit, so let us give thanks for God's ways being different than our own!! We receive more than we can ask or imagine thanks to God's abundant generosity.
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