Meditation Sixty-first.
On the love with which God receives the repentant sinner.
I. THE kings of the earth reject from their presence their rebellious subjects, when they come to seek for pardon; but Jesus Christ assures us that he will never reject any rebellious sinner that penitently casts himself at his feet: kin i that cometh to me I will not cast out. St John vi. 37. He despiseth not the heart that is humble and sorry for having offended him: a contrite and humble hearty O God, thou wilt not despise. Ps. 1. I do not, O Jesus, deserve thy pardon for the offences which I have committed against thee, but thou knowest that nothing afflicts me so much as the remembrance of my having offended thee.
II. But how can I be afraid that thou, my God, wilt cast me off, when thou invitest me to return to thee, and offerest me thy pardon? Return to me, and I will receive thee. Jer. iii. 11. How can I doubt, when thou promisest to embrace us, when we are converted to thee? Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you. Zach. i. 3. Do not then, O Lord, turn thy back upon me, for I will renounce all things, and turn myself to thee, my sovereign good. I have offended thee too long, and will now at least love thee.
III. Our good God moreover adds, that if the sinner repent of the evil which he has done, he is willing to forget all his sins: If the wicked do penance ..... living he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done. Ez. xviii. 21, 22. My dear Redeemer! I will never forget my sins, that I may always bewail the evil which I have done against thee; but I trust and hope that thou, as thou hast promised, wilt
