What if tomorrow morning, you stumble into the kitchen, turn on the coffee pot, and notice that someone has changed your favorite caffeinated beverage for the decaf kind? What if, out-of-the-blue, your boss calls and says your one-week paid vacation for the year has been changed to a three-day paid vacation? What if your spouse walks in and says that he/she has decided to change your house color to bright pink with black polka dots...just because?
Change can be a wonderful thing. And then, other times, not so much! Sometimes, as a matter of fact, it could be very detrimental to our lives, our health, even our souls.
Take Malachi 3:6, for example. In that one simple little verse, God says something incredible...and very comforting at the same time: "For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed."
In Malachi's day, the children of God (the sons of Jacob) were worshiping idols, doing promiscuous things with women of other nations, and disregarding the care of the people around them. They were playing games with serious, holy observances - games which God called, "detestable." It was as if they had totally decided to be unfaithful, choosing to snub their nose at God, altogether.
To make matters worse, they were oblivious to the fact that God cared about whether or not they were acting in such an unholy fashion. They thought He was "okay" with their behavior, because He hadn't "done" anything about it.
Well, that's where they were wrong. For you see, the ONLY reason God had not wiped them from the face of the earth was because of His unchanging nature. He told them, "For I, the Lord, do not change."
Oh...they changed. The children of God's lives had gone from being living examples of their Father, to being living examples of the unholy world that surrounded them. Yet, because God had made a covenant promise to Abraham a LONG time - a promise that his people would bless every other nation on earth - God did not destroy the "sons of Jacob" because of their sins. Instead, He purified them.
God's promise stayed the same. He did not change...and He still doesn't.
So, what's that mean for us?
Well, let's put a different spin on some of the questions I asked earlier. What if you woke up this morning and God decided to change in His promises towards you - His child? What if He decided no longer to forgive you for that sin you have difficulty overcoming? What if He decided His grace had limits, and you had reached the edge. What if He decided that His love for you was conditional, not unconditional?
See the devastating effects of that type of change? I can't even imagine.
Therefore, while I have breath on this earth, I will always - and I do mean ALWAYS - be thankful and grateful that the God I serve DOES NOT CHANGE...that He does not remove His Spirit from me...that no matter what I do, He still loves me as His child and treats me accordingly.
I thank You, Father. Thank You that You do not change, nor is there ever a chance that You will. I cannot be "bad enough" or "ugly enough" or even "mean enough" to cause You to turn away from me. May that thought spur me on to love You more...to serve You more...to be more like You. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your mercy...truly. Thank You.
No comments:
Post a Comment