2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

We’re not the first people to turn from God, probably not the last. We turn to Him when we need to (there are no atheists in fox holes), turn away when we’ve dug ourselves out. Yet, God waits for us, He doesn’t turn from us, he doesn’t abandon us. He’s there for us and it’s not a new promise – this one coming around 300-350 BC.

Psalm 51:10 (NLT)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

That’s what it takes. If you’re judging your heart clean, your motives pure, your alignment with the teachings of Christ tighter than misers checkbook, cool. Just know if you’re not too. That means you have to study the teachings of Christ because they are really, really, rich. A casual reading or old recollections from your teen years don’t count. Nor do diatribes from atheist university professors count (I think it’s safe to say that many professors have lost the ability to teach and are now just preaching their peculiar bias).

2 Timothy 1:8-9 (NLT)
8 So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. 9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

And what is that holy life? Just what does that look like? We have been given grace if we choose to accept it. How does that feel knowing it’s real? How does it feel to know you might have chosen to blow it off and go a different direction?

Proverbs 27:5-6 (NLT)
5 An open rebuke is better than hidden love!
6 Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

Because He does let us know. That small voice telling us the right thing to do. He does let us know. That quiet voice that’s so unsettling when we turn our ear to it in our quiet times.

Hebrews 9:28 (NLT)
28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

God is waiting for us. He will come to those who are waiting for Him.