“He besought the Lord his God…”

And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.  Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.  And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.
2 Chronicles 33:10-13

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A couple weeks ago, my pastor taught on 2 Chronicles 33:1-16.  I won’t put the entire passage on here, but I encourage you to click the link above and read it for yourself.
It talks about how evil Manasseh was — he was a truly despicable person who absolutely did not follow God at all!  He even sacrificed his own children as burnt offerings to false god(s) and “shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another“ — but God forgave him and turned his life around!  God’s mercy and grace are really on display in this passage!  And then, when you read through the genealogy of Christ in Matthew chapter 1, you’ll see him in verse 10 listed as one of Christs’ ancestors.  It’s almost like forgiving Manasseh wasn’t enough… He also wanted to show him honor in a big way.
Kinda makes me think of Paul. . .  How God can and will use people that we would give up on– ones that we would never expect Him to even want to use.  How He can work in their hearts and lives in ways that we don’t understand until they come to Him willing to serve Him and let Him change them from the inside out.
If God can and will forgive and use a man like Manasseh (and He did!), then He can and will forgive and use anyone who is willing to come to Him.  Such an encouraging thought!  So, to anyone out there who thinks that you are too bad for God to forgive. . .  Just read about Manasseh and I think you’ll see differently. 🙂

—  John 3:16  —  2 Peter 3:9  —