No one is too evil
Day twenty-three of a month for prayer and fasting and calling out to God
The following is an extract from ‘31 Days of Prayer’, a book I wrote initially as a personal study, sensing during the Covid pandemic in 2020 that repentance was called for. Each Monday in June 2025 I will be publishing an extract related to fasting mainly to allow myself a day off from writing each week (I often write these posts a day or more in advance)
Day 14: No one is too evil
Then he said "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Luke 23:42-43
Some hold the view that there are people who are too evil to be forgiven. Others believe they themselves have done things that can never be forgiven. Both are wrong.
King Ahab, along with his wife Jezebel, were considered two of the most evil rulers of Israel. 1 Kings 21 v 5 to 16 recounts an awful story of how Jezebel used a proclamation of a fast to entrap a man, have him killed and his vineyard stolen. God will hold anyone who behaves in such a manner accountable, especially someone in authority.
Yet even for someone as evil as King Ahab who conspired with Jezebel, God sees repentance and does not ignore it. No matter how evil you have been, there is always hope for you.
After being told God had judged Ahab and that he would be punished, we read:
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son."
1 Kings 21:27-29
God was not proposing to punish the son for the sins of the father, instead God knew that the son would choose to rebel against God and would reap his own punishment.
The interaction between Jesus and the prisoner hanging beside him on a cross shows God's great mercy to all of us. There was nothing that prisoner could do to deserve Jesus forgiveness. He had no ability to act in a different way, to show kindness to others, to demonstrate that his heart had changed, yet Jesus heard his plea for mercy and pardoned him and assured him he would join Jesus in paradise.
No matter what sin you have committed in the past, repent today and ask God's forgiveness. God is looking for each of us to humble ourselves, to acknowledge our weakness, to seek his forgiveness.
Our father in heaven, thank you for your great mercy. You do not treat us as we deserve, but to each one of us offer forgiveness through Jesus. May we humble ourselves, examine our hearts and actions, repent and seek your forgiveness. Thank you that you are quick to forgive! Amen
Read yesterday’s post: https://goal31.substack.com/p/god-of-wonders
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