God's general pattern is to allow people time to repent rather than instantly executing judgment, demonstrating His mercy and longsuffering, as He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He has given the nations of Israel time to repent, yet this generosity can dull the sense of urgency, leading to complacency among His people. Even within the church, He provides time for repentance, setting limits and intervening to prevent hearts from becoming fully set in error, though His judgments are often unrecognized as such. His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering are designed to lead us to repentance, not through indulgence, but by supplying what is suitable to our spiritual needs. In His kindness, He provides circumstances, whether gentle nudges or trying situations, to encourage a change in perspective and a deeper appreciation of the seriousness of sin, guiding us toward a more spiritually abundant life.

God, in His goodness, actively works to bring His people to repentance, creating situations from smitten consciences to large-scale calamities to guide us to the right path. He gives us time to repent, yet He is not idle, sending reminders and helps because He truly desires us to live as He does. Throughout history, as with the ancient Israelites, He sent prophets to warn and remind them of His unchanging will, ensuring they were without excuse. Though they often ignored or persecuted these messengers, God persisted in His efforts. His methods of leading us to repentance may surprise or even offend us, as His thoughts and ways are not ours. He might deliver messages through unexpected means, such as a weekly sermon, a humbling source, or even a beast of burden, as seen in various accounts. Sometimes His reminders are gentle, while at other times they are impossible to ignore when spiritual danger grows. On occasion, He steps back, waiting to see if we will turn to Him on our own, as with King David, whose delay in repentance led to profound and grievous lessons that wrote God's law on his heart. The time God grants for repentance can be a double-edged sword. While He allows us space to make right choices and reconcile with Him, we may misunderstand this grace, assuming our actions are not a concern to Him. As time passes, it becomes easy to forget His gentle promptings or silence the conviction of sin, numbing our conscience until we no longer recognize His nudges. The longer we delay necessary changes, the easier it is to turn away from Him entirely. Though He is faithful to His covenant and will leave nothing undone on our behalf, He will not force us to take on His image if we choose otherwise. There is a time when He may be sought and found, but this time does not last forever, and He will respond to our choices, whether good or evil.

The message admonishes every member of God's church that we should constantly be in a continuous state of repentance, but that signs of the end should get us urgently in that state. Being a literal descendant of Abraham or a part of God's church and doing basic rituals is not enough to produce those fruits. Repentance doesn't just involve the negative aspect of removing sin and bad actions but turning towards righteousness and willful good actions. Presenting a three-step way of looking at repentance demonstrated by the parable of the Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-18), we must realize that it involves first changing our mind, second changing our heart, and then changing our will. Change of mind involves coming back to a sane state of thought through the holy spirit or an event that shakes us back on the way. Change of heart is importantly realizing through sorrow that our primary offense was against God and then others and ourselves. Change of will means demonstrating fruits of repentance through action and showing fruits of repentance (carefulness, indignation, and zeal) as shown in 2 Corinthians 7:11. As we repent and ask forgiveness ourselves, we must also forgive others, so we spread God's attributes of mercy in the church and world.