His Arms Are Outstretched Still

Today I read Hosea 11 where the Lord tells the Israelites that He still loves them and that He will not destroy them.  I wonder if the Israelites realized just how significant that was?  I mean to hear for several chapters how bad you have been, and then to be told that despite all that He loves you still and that His arms are still outstretched and He has not forsaken you.  I am reminded of the prodigal son, who did not know his father would welcome him back but chose to return anyway.  It was only once he was back that he realized he could have returned all along and his father would have loved him.  Sometimes we think we can't repent because how can God forgive us after what we have done?  We forget that Christ has suffered for everything we have or will ever do and so there is nothing that can't be repented of.  It is a comforting thought that if we mess up we can return, but it is by no means a license to purposefully sin.  How selfish would that be?  To purposefully cause the Savior pain like that?  I can't even imagine such selfishness.  Until tomorrow.