Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put not off from day to day: for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth, and in your security you shall be destroyed, and perish in the day of vengeance.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 5:7 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 5
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
"Do you not know that God"s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God"s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to everyone according to his works." The fear of God must therefore take hold in your heart. If you do not want to sin, you should reflect on the fact that God is always present with you. This is the case not only in public but also in your own home, and not only in your home but in your own room, even at night in your very own bed, in your heart. If, then, you abolish the safe haven of penance and repentance, sins would increase out of desperation. As you see, those who think that the safe haven of repentance presented by the Christian faith is an occasion for sin have nothing more to say.
And what happens next? Shouldn"t God have made provision for preventing sin from increasing since people would count on there being this hope of forgiveness? In other words, just as he has provided that sin would not be added to because of desperation, he should also make sure that sin also would not be added to because of hope. In reality, the person who despairs adds to his sins just as much as the one who counts on forgiveness. You might even say to yourself, "In the meantime, I will do what I want. Then, when I repent, God is good and will forgive me."
You certainly can say to yourself, "When I convert, he will forgive me""if you know you will be alive tomorrow. Don"t the Scriptures warn you, though, saying, "Do not delay turning back to the Lord or put it off from day to day; for suddenly his wrath will come, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy you." You see, divine Providence has kept watch over us, allowing us to avoid one or the other danger: in order to make sure we do not increase our sin out of despair, there is the safe haven of repentance; in order to make sure we do not increase them out of excessive hope of forgiveness, the day of our demise has been made unknown.
