Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4 NASB

The handmade signs on the street corner read: Jesus is coming to judge the earth! Repent! But as people walked by the display, not many reached for the brochure offered to them.

While there’s no doubt that the street evangelist meant well, there’s a lot more to be said about repentance. The Bible does call all people to repent—to turn from worshiping ourselves, from refusing to acknowledge God’s holiness and our unholiness. But God’s desire isn’t for a change of our hearts just because we’re afraid of punishment.

Scripture says that it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance and that repentance brings, not just escape from punishment but refreshment! Romans 2:4 cautions us not to take lightly the riches of God’s kindness and restraint and patience, because “the kindness of God leads… to repentance” (Romans 2:4 NASB). God’s willingness to let His Son, Jesus, take our punishment, was the supreme act of love, and His call for us to repent comes out of that great love. He loves all, and longs for “all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

When you hear the word “judgment” do you automatically think “punishment?” Those without God’s forgiveness will be punished; the Bible says that Jesus will “repay every man according to his deeds” (Matthew 16:27). But if you’re a follower of Jesus who has repented, you have bypassed judgment because of Jesus’s death in your place! For Jesus’s followers, there will be rewards! (Revelation 22:12)

Yes, today our God lovingly calls us to Himself, to restore us. “Repent… and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,” explains Acts 3:19. His kindness is calling.