Why run?

Few days back, I was thinking to myself...why do people run away from God when living in sin rather than to Him?

What would you say if you saw a sick person running away from a doctor with a cure? Or a hungry person running away from food? Sad truth is, this is what some Christians do. God being the loving Father that He is stands with open arms to receive the sinner, forgive them and cleanse them from their sins, yet some choose to run the opposite direction.

This bothered me for a while, and I decided to seek for a better understanding. This is what I came across. There is one thing that the enemy (the devil) does not want, and that is for people to know the truth about God and to come to Him. He will do anything for people to stay away and when it comes to sin, guilt is one of his greatest weapons. I would think that guilt would push one to seek for forgiveness but rather the enemy adds self condemnation to that guilt such that we feel unworthy to approach the throne of grace where mercy resides.

We need to understand that God is merciful. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Yes He absolutely hates (detests) the sin we commit, yet He loves the one who committed the sin. Because of this love, He stands opened armed to receive us and cleanse us from the sin and give us the strength to walk in obedience to His word. Staying away from Him drives us deeper into sin. Eventually for some, their conscience is seared and the sin is no longer something they consider as sin, but rather as part of their lives. Remember, God does not force anyone. If you choose to remain in your sin, He will let you be, and continue standing waiting. The longer you remain in the sin, the further you go away from His opened arms, the harder it is for you to come back to Him.

Where ever you are at, stop! Turn to God, because you can not do this on your own. Push aside all the lies the enemy has told you and all the self condemnation. He loves you more than you can ever imagine. He has forgiven you, and cleansed you, just come and accept His forgiveness. Your strength to live the life He has called you to is found in Him. He has placed it inside you, come find out the key to unlocking the "how".