When God gives up?

I was able to get quite a bit of work done today... which made up (to some extent) for a weekend full of non-school. I am really starting to feel the pressure of all the projects that are coming my way. As much as I want June 12 (the day I finish finals) to be here already, I have so much to do before than that I really don't want it to come as soon as it is coming. I read in Judges 10 this evening about how Israel keeps going back and forth between serving God and Baal. When I really think about it, serving God for twenty years actually is a long time considering that I am only twenty... and seeing how many times I have chosen to go my own way. I am so thankful for a God that doesn't give up on me. Take a look at this sobering passage (Judges 10:10-13).

Then the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals." The LORD said to the sons of Israel, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? "Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.

Can we get to the point where God gives up? This passage may strike you that way, but I would argue that God is not giving up on them, but rather allowing them to understand the consequences that come with sin. I think if we were always bailed out whenever we ran into trouble, we would never learn to appreciate who God is. It is important for us to hate sin... and there would be no reason to hate sin if it didn't have consequences. The reality is that Jesus has taken the punishment that we deserve (eternal death)... so the consequences of sin that we face don't even compare to what we really deserve. I am so thankful for His grace in saving us from what we have rightfully earned (eternal life in hell). May we have hearts so tender to His ways that we need not experience much of the consequences of sin in order for us to turn fully to Him once again.