“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”
— Romans 2:4 ESV
I got into something again this morning…
Wasn’t supposed to.
Knew better.
Had that little nudge in my gut that said,
“Don’t go digging there, buddy…”
But I did.
And before long, there I was—
dust on my nose,
guilt in my tail,
and that familiar feeling sitting heavy on my chest.
You ever notice…
how doing wrong feels exciting for about two seconds—
and heavy for a whole lot longer?
I tried to play it off.
Wandered back toward the house like nothing happened.
Whistling… if dogs could whistle.
But my human knew.
Oh, he knew.
He looked at me…
Not with fire in his eyes…
Not with a raised hand…
But with something worse—
Kindness.
He just knelt down…
called my name…
and opened his arms.
And I froze.
Because see…
I could’ve handled yelling.
I could’ve handled being run off.
I could’ve even handled a little distance.
But kindness?
That’ll undo a dog.
My tail dropped low…
Ears followed…
And next thing you know, I was walking straight into those open arms I didn’t deserve.
And that’s when it hit me…
It wasn’t fear that brought me back.
It was goodness.
I hear my human read out loud from that Jesus book sometimes… about how God deals with folks like me.
Folks who wander.
Folks who dig where they shouldn’t.
Folks who know better… but do it anyway.
And you’d think…
God would come down hard.
Draw a line.
Shout from the porch.
But instead…
He opens His arms.
Not because He’s okay with the mess, but because He knows goodness has a way of leading a heart home that fear never could.
I didn’t run back because I was scared.
I came back because I was loved.
Maybe that’s the part we miss sometimes.
We think repentance is about
getting caught…
getting shamed…
getting straightened out.
But maybe…
Maybe it’s about seeing goodness so clearly—
Feeling mercy so deeply—
That you don’t want the mud anymore.
You just want Him.
I still mess up.
Still wander.
Still sniff where I shouldn’t.
But I’ve learned this much:
There’s always a voice calling me back— steady… gentle… kind.
And every time I hear it, something in me turns around a little quicker.
Not because I have to…
But because I want to.
Goodness will do that to you.
Because when you really see goodness…
Real goodness…
Undeserved, steady, patient goodness…
It does something to you.
The goodness of God leads to repentance.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
