We live in a world of change. Nothing is ever the same. I am not the same as I was yesterday. I would like to say I am better, stronger, smarter, etc. Some of it is true. I have learned since yesterday. I just finished an hour of reading various things that have helped me to be understand "Christian vocation" and "infant baptism." I have a little better grasp on those things than I did when I got up this morning. Yet, I am a day older than yesterday. Having celebrated my birthday this week, I am now officially 49, which means I am getting close to that half century mark! It is for sure that I am not what I was when I was 29 or 39 (let alone when I was 9 or 19!). Am I better looker? I do know I have more grey hair today than I did 10 years ago. I also have more weight. I have less energy. And I eat less (though I want to continue to enjoy eating!). I have changed tremendously through my life.
We all have. "Change is the only constant in life," I have heard it said. Is that true? Is change the only constant? If so, that is terribly disconcerting. I can not be sure that when I get up tomorrow morning that anything will be the same. Remember what 9/11 did to our assurance of stability? It threw everyone for a loop. We weren't sure of anything anymore.
But then, as I was in God's word this morning, I read a wonderful, powerful, assuring passage. It comes from Psalm 102. As the Psalmist wrote, he said, "For my days pass away like smoke and my bones burn like a furnace...My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass." (Ps. 102:3,11 ESV) EEK! That sounds terrible. If change is so sure and certain, is there hope? "But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever..." (vs. 12) "They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end." (vs. 26-27) God does not change!
Did you hear that? God does not change! He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! In the middle of this world where the only constant is change, there is something else - God never changes. His love is the same for you today - in the midst of your life. He loves you as much as He did yesterday. He will love you just as much tomorrow! His grace never changes. He doesn't decide that today salvation comes through Jesus only to have Him decide that tomorrow salvation comes through a 3 mile hike in the woods or a dance around the altar. Grace is the same. He forgives you for Jesus sake - today, even as He did yesterday. Everything about God is the same.
Change - not in God. I might change in my relationship with Him but He will never change in His relationship with me. I might stray off the path but I can be certain that this changeless God will come after me, no matter where I have strayed or how far I have strayed. I might doubt Him but He never doubts Himself. Wherever I go, whatever I do, God is a God who is the same. He loves me the same. He cares for me the same. He saves me in the same way.
God doesn't change. Thank YOU! Thank You God for not changing because I know I am going to. I can be certain that my feelings are going to change - perhaps even through out the day. As uncertain as life is, there is one certainty - God. I breathe a huge sigh of relief. How God acts doesn't depend on me. He is always going to be Himself.
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