What if God behaved like us? We function on a need-to-be basis. If we need to behave a certain way in a certain place – we do. Example: we are speeding down the freeway and see a police car ahead. Most drivers tap on their brakes. When the coast is clear we tap on the gas pedal. We are fickle and worry about what people think of us. I remember hearing an older relative comment on a distant relative who had always been a mean girl – at least that was my experience. He remarked that she was always so sweet – not. A young child will look both ways before being naughty. Our conscience is never really fully developed. Why is that? Do we believe there is a God or are we above the law? I have resisted the idea that we are born into sin. My sin nature is a challenge but a newborn baby is without sin. He/she has yet to make a decision about how to behave. I’ve noticed some gluttony in me lately. There is no one in my home to glare at me as I eat another cookie. One moment on my lips – forever on my hips. There are no secrets when it comes to eating habits. Paul talks about doing the things he doesn’t want to do and then not doing the things he intended to do. We do have challenging conflicts at the center of our beings. God, however, is not plagued with insincere motives to look good because He is good. I have been reading Dane Ortlund’s, ‘Gentle and Lowly – The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers’. It is full of good news from scripture about who God is and I quote, “Consider the words of Exodus 34:6-7. ‘Merciful and gracious.’ These are the first words out of God’s own mouth after proclaiming His name (‘the Lord,’ or ‘I am’). The first words. The only two words Jesus will use to describe his own heart are gentle and lowly (Matt 11:29) And the first two words God uses to describe who he is are merciful and gracious….His highest priority and deepest delight and first reaction – his heart – is merciful and gracious. He gently accommodates himself to our terms rather than overwhelming us with his. ‘Slow to anger.’ The Hebrew phrase is literally ‘long of nostrils.’ Picture an angry bull pawing the ground…But the Lord is long-nosed.” pg 148. So we sneak around practicing sin. God sees us and is full of mercy and grace. That is His only reaction. Judgement is another subject having to do with those who push God away and go their own way – a conversation for another day…Today we need Him. We bask in His mercy and grace and the sun is shining to remind us that the Son is shining.
