I also read to see what is wrong with me. Applause is nice. Nevertheless, I grow only when I’m willing to see and confess my sin. Although sin shows up in life’s activities, it seems easier to face when God talks to me about my attitudes, rather than after I’ve done something that reveals them.
This week an unkept man stepped in front of me as I was going into a store. He asked if I was having a good week. I immediately thought of the telemarketers that begin their sales pitch with a similar inquiry. They do not really care how I am; they just want my money. So I walked past the man without responding.
Last Sunday’s sermon was about compassion. As soon as I got inside the store, I was convicted that I had not done very well in that department. It wasn’t the fact that I had not spoken to this man. (Didn’t our mother’s teach us not to talk to strangers?) What bothered me the most was the attitude of my heart. I felt extreme rudeness rising in me. Whether the guy was a professional panhandler or genuinely down and out didn’t enter my head. I just wanted him out of my space. Either way, I was not very compassionate.
Today’s verses are not about compassion but they are about God and about me.
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent. (1 Samuel 15:29). . . . For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)
In the original, the word ‘relent’ is translated in other verses as ‘repent’ — which means to change one’s mind and direction. These verses say that God does not do that. He is the same, and while He may deal with each of us differently, or work in various ways, His heart and intentions are always true and righteous.
One Bible version translates one of these verses with, “God is not a man that He should have regrets.” This means that He is not like me, implying that I do have regrets, and that I do change my mind all the time. It also implies that I need to wish that I had done things differently, and that I need to repent and change.
What would Jesus do? I’m not sure, but it would not be what I did. As a woman, I probably should not engage in conversation with a strange man, even in a public place because that can be dangerous these days. I even wonder of God didn’t give me a friendlier response to protect me. I will never know that, and I cannot blame Him for my bad attitude. I know that whenever I see someone like that man, my first thoughts should not be rude or even assuming. As long as I have any sort of self-protective, superior notion, the Holy Spirit will not use me.
The bottom line is that the sermon, as good as it was, didn’t challenge or change my lack of compassion. God knew that I needed to see that my innermost thoughts are still not what they should be. He does not need to relent or repent, but I do.
Today’s devotional reading puts together two verses, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. They are about the character of God in relation to His dealings with His people.
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent. (1 Samuel 15:29). . . . For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)
Israel had forsaken God, but he promised that He would not forsake them. He assured them that He did not lie, nor would He change His mind about His intentions for them. Paul repeats this in the New Testament. When God says He will do something, He does it. He keeps His Word.
Knowing that God is like this is a comfort for me and an anchor for my soul. God is the one thing that never changes. He is reliable when all else is unpredictable. Because of that, I trust Him with my life.
Besides giving me a solid hope and another reason for my faith, there is at least one other way to apply these verses. It is related to God’s goal for me. He calls me to be transformed into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person”(Hebrews 1:3), then this transformation mean that God wants me to be like Him. That includes being someone who does not lie, who keeps her word and does what I say I will do.
Being like God is an incredible goal. This is different from the new-age idea that we are gods. Rather it is about being transformed into what God intended when He created people in His image. That first sin by the first people marred the image and that propensity to sin has been passed down to every member of the human race.
God, in mercy, has provided a way to reverse this. Redemption through faith in Jesus Christ and the power of God to recreate means that anyone can have their sin forgiven and their life restored, once again reflecting the image of their Creator. But I know I cannot do this myself, although Scripture is full of commands to imitate God.
Along with those commands, God gives the invitation to come to Him for restoration. Because I have done that, He gives assurance of new life, and hope because He lives in me. Because of Him I can do as He asks. Galatians 2:20 says,
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Rules, commands, high values, good morals, strong convictions and so on are all good things, but being like God is not about my efforts to be good. Verse 21 adds, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Galatians 2:21)
The Bible is clear that I am saved by grace through faith, not by good works such as keeping rules and laws, or by self-effort. However, grace is not abandoned after that new life begins. I also continue to live my Christian life by grace through faith. Galatians 3:3 asks, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” and 3:11 adds, “That no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’”
Sometimes I’m tempted to slide into trying to do it myself. Foolishly abandoning faith, I get hung up with efforts to be “good” and keep the rules. One of my favorite passages reminds me that this is folly and there is only one way to be like God. It says, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6)
The higher moral traditions of men teach integrity and reliability, but they forget the part about sin and about human nature that so easily reverts to self-effort. I know that apart from Christ and His cleansing power, it is impossible to please God. If I want to be a person of my word, have integrity and be 100% reliable, then I must be a person who is like God.
For instance, when my children were small, I tried to discipline them for disobedience, but be lenient for childishness. Kids will be kids. When they make mistakes because they do not know any better, teaching is required. When they deliberately choose to do something wrong, punishment and discipline are required.
An onlooker might not know the difference. Even as a mother, I didn’t always know the difference. Yet as God deals with His children, I’m sure that He has all things figured out. He knows the hearts of everyone and treats us according to our need.
Such was the case with King Saul in the Old Testament. He was supposed to defeat a particular enemy and take no spoil. However, he disobeyed God and God had him disposed. The prophet and priest, Samuel, delivered the message. He told Saul that he was finished as king. Of course Saul began begging. He asked Samuel to plead with God and get his throne back. Nevertheless, Samuel said to him, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.” (1 Samuel 15:29)
That was the end of the matter. God knew the heart of this man, and He knew that Saul was more interested in doing his own thing than he was in doing what He told him. God stood His ground.
This quality of God not changing His mind has a positive side too. In Romans 11, Paul explains that Israel has been chosen by God, and although they are in a state of unbelief and disobedience, He still has a plan for them. One day their situation will change and God still considers them His beloved, “for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29)
As a follower of Jesus Christ, this is great assurance for me. God has called me, given me spiritual gifts, and invested much into my life. He has a plan for me and He will not change His mind. I mess up, and sometimes I disobey Him wilfully, yet He always rebukes me, brings me to repentance, and pulls me back on track. I can count on His faithfulness to save me from my sin. It is for this that Christ died.
While some think that such faithfulness on the part of God gives His people freedom to do whatever they please, it has the opposite effect. His love changes the hearts of those who have been chosen. Instead of acting like spoiled brats who know we will be forgiven, His love and forgiveness create new life and a new heart that deeply desires to please Him.
If I thought God was fickle and could never know for sure what He would do with me, I could not trust and rely on Him. It is His faithfulness that is like an anchor for me, a solid place for my soul to rest. To live is Christ means that I am secure, not because of what I do, but because of who He is.
