“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.  Turn!  Turn from your evil ways!  Why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)

What do you like?  Pizza?  Ice cream? The Vikings? Beaver hockey?  We like all sorts of things,don’t we?  Well, what about God?  What does He like?

Perhaps it might be easy for us to think, “God likes good people, God doesn’t like bad people.”  That seems like a nice statement until we define “good.”  Who is a good person?  According to God, a good person is someone who never sins but always thinks perfect thoughts, always speaks perfect words, always does perfect things.  Everyone else is bad.  So, perhaps a better statement would be, “God likes perfect people.  God doesn’t like imperfect people.”  So, the truth is, since we’re sinful, God ought not like any of us.

But that’s not what God says here.  Yes, it’s true that whoever rejects God, rejects Jesus as their Savior, rejects salvation and will die eternally.  But, that’s not what God wants.  God sincerely does not take pleasure in the death of anyone.  God sincerely wants all, every person, everyone to live forever.  And God takes an oath, stakes His life on it!  There’s nothing more sure than God’s life!

And God didn’t just stake His life on it.  He laid down His life on a cross to prove it.  Why?  To show without a doubt that He DOES desire the salvation of all – for He paid for the sins of all.  Your’s and mine included!  God must like us a lot!

Thankful to know God likes me, just like you,

pastor