Do you know what I'd like to do? Go back and live with my parents.

I know, I know, that defies all logical thought. Most people can't wait to get out of their parents' house. Very few (if any) of them want to return home at the age of 37, with a wife and two kids. But I have a very good reason for wanting to do it: Cookies for breakfast.

On a recent Friday night, Amy and I had an event to attend in Atlanta. My mother and father were kind enough to take the kids that night, allowing them to sleep over because of my and Amy's late return.

The next morning, we went down to Watkinsville to get them. Upon arriving, my mother told the following story: Chloe woke up that morning and stumbled, bleary-eyed (she gets that from me) into the kitchen. My mother asked her, "What do you want for breakfast?" Chloe gave the question a moment's thought. "Cookies," she said. Then, through a fit of laughter my mother told me, "If I'd had any cookies in the house, I'd have given them to her!"

Who is this woman? I wondered. Certainly not the woman who raised me! When in the world did this "cookies for breakfast" policy take effect? I can assure you it wasn't while I was living under their roof.

It seems that somewhere along the way, during the process of going from parent to grandparent, my mother has changed her standards. Things she never would have allowed her children to do, she now thinks is perfectly fine for her grandchildren.

I know what you're thinking. Times change. People change. And they do. But do you know someone who never changes? Our heavenly father.

Hebrews 13:8 tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." He's the same. Constant. Unchanging. No matter what, no matter when.

Through Jesus Christ, our heavenly father gives grace to all who ask for it. He provides salvation to all who will receive it. That's one side of the coin. The other side is this: He doesn't let sin slide. What our heavenly father called sin back then, he still calls sin today.

We may change what we call it. We may change how we view it. But God does not. Sin is serious to God, and it always will be. After all, it is because of our sins that Jesus died.

Yet because Jesus died for our sins, we can receive God's mercy and forgiveness, his love and his grace.

Is that what you need today? Then repent of your sins. Repent and ask God to forgive you. He will, you know. That's his promise in Scripture (1 John 1:9). He will forgive you, he will save you and he will give you a home in heaven.

And who knows? Maybe in heaven he'll give us cookies for breakfast.

Parrish Myers is pastor of Pine Crest Baptist Church in Gainesville. His column runs every other week in Sunday Life.