Whether of them two did the will of his father? They say to him, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

– Matthew 21:31

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

This verse is from the parable of the two sons. The eldest son contradicted his father and refused to go, but he repented later. Such people are approved by God. The Lord values those who have sincere repentance, He doesn’t like those who have no heart in the words. This reminds me of the repentance of the Ninevites. When they heard Jonah say “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” They knew their wickedness had enraged Jehovah God, God would surely punish them. So from the king to the people of Nineveh, they fasted, turned away from their evil ways and forsook the violence in their hands, and confessed and repented their sins before Jehovah God. God saw the sincere repentance in the depths of the Ninevites’ hearts, so He bestowed His mercy upon them. From this we can see that God looks at our hearts, not our external behaviors. God has principles in treating people. If we don’t have sincere repentance in the depths of our hearts, no matter how many things we do externally, we cannot receive God’s mercy.

Share a passage of God’s words, “The reason why God’s decision—to spare the Ninevites from the catastrophe—was so swift is that God observed the heart of every person of Nineveh. He saw what they held in the depths of their hearts: their sincere confession and repentance for their sins, their sincere belief in Him, their deep sense of how their wicked acts had enraged His disposition, and the resulting fear of Jehovah God’s impending punishment. At the same time, Jehovah God also heard the prayers from the depths of their hearts entreating Him to cease His anger against them so that they might avoid this catastrophe. When God observed all these facts, little by little His anger disappeared. Regardless of how great His anger had previously been, when He saw the sincere repentance in the depths of these people’s hearts His heart was touched by this, and so He could not bear to bring the catastrophe upon them, and He ceased to be angry at them. Instead He continued to extend His mercy and tolerance toward them and continued to guide and supply them.”