Could you be judging God? Too often we read certain portions of Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, and we’re tempted to judge God by our human standards. What do we need to remember about God when we’re tempted to doubt His goodness, love, or mercy? Or when we doubt Him altogether because His ways don’t make sense to us?
Today’s Readings:
Deuteronomy 23 & 24
Psalm 39.1-6
Proverbs 13.1-3
Luke 5.17-39
Are You Judging God?
Deuteronomy 23 & 24:
God’s Holy Standard
Thank God that we live in an age of grace! Think about it, everything we read in the Old Testament about the law, even the parts that are hard to understand or hard to justify by our human standards, were intended to point us to our need for a Savior!
In Isaiah’s vision, the seraphim cried out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Is. 6.3)! While it may seem harsh, for example, to say that a person who was born illegitimately could not go into the temple (Deut. 23.2), instead of judging God, it should help us understand His holiness and see our complete inability to keep His holy standard. The truth is not one of us is worthy to come into His presence apart from the shed blood of Christ (Rom. 3.10, 23).
No Fear of God or Understanding of His Holiness
Today we seem to have lost all sense of His holiness. We no longer have the kind of worshipful respect we call the fear of God. Nothing is shameful. Girls proudly go to school pregnant. People live together and start families without God’s covenant of marriage. Marriages break up with no regard for what God says. We abort babies we don’t want, sleep with whomever we desire, and then toss people aside when we tire of them. Do we really think this is better?
But because of God’s grace, we can come to Him and seek His forgiveness. There is no sin too big or too small for the blood of Christ to cover if we humbly turn to Him, confess our sin, and submit ourselves to His Lordship.
Judging God
We simply cannot read the Bible or look at God’s work in the world around us and judge Him by our standards. It’s presumptuous of us to think we have that right. As Isaiah said:
Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’? (Is. 29.16).
If we realize we’re guilty of judging God, we need to ask for His forgiveness and remember that He is good (Rom. 2.4), all His judgments are right (Rev. 19.2) and in Him, there is no darkness (1 Jn. 1.5). We must see ourselves in the light of His holy character rather than judging Him by ours.
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 39.1-6:
Treasure on Earth
Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them (v. 6).
Many people go through life busy with things that don’t matter for eternity—gathering treasure that will be left behind for someone else to get.
Proverbs 13.1-3:
Being Teachable
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke (v. 1).
A scoffer is a proud person. Pride can make us unteachable and unwilling to take criticism or correction.
Luke 5.17-39:
New & Old Wineskins
Then He spoke a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better” (vv. 36-39).
The religious leaders had become accustomed to their religion—their ceremonies and their traditions. Jesus offered new wine, but it was bursting the old wineskins.
May God open our eyes to see Christ and Him crucified.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about being a fool for God, the downward spiral that sin can take us on, becoming bored with God, fear, facing storms, and when friends betray us.
I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them.
If you would like to receive a FREE downloadable and printable Bible study through the book of Mark, you can click here for more information.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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