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Do you get the feeling that God has changed over your lifetime?
In the last book of the Old Testament God says through the prophet Malachi, “I am the Lord, and I do not change.” (Mal 3:6)
James says something similar in 1:17 Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.
God doesn’t change but our understanding of God does. Paul says when he was a child he thought like a child and so do we. Once we’ve matured we no longer have a childish view of God.
It’s interesting to consider how the Bible gives us a developing view of God. For example the Israelites gradually moved from believing that God was one among many gods to the only God. Now it’s quite clear God hadn’t changed but the people’s understanding of God and the truth about God had.
God doesn’t grow up with our faith but our faith in God grows and develops. It might be interesting for you to take a break from reading this and think about how your view of God has changed over time and how this affects the way you relate to God.
One of the big questions I’ve been puzzling over because of the theme I was given for the Lenten services is did the incarnation change God? When the word was made flesh, as John puts it, when Jesus was born and became one of us, did that change God?
As we continue on our journey to Easter I wonder in particular whether Jesus experience of death on the cross changed God? Does God understand us better now than he did before? I don’t know the answer but I know that Jesus’ death and resurrection makes a world of difference to each of us. Praise God for his amazing love!
Eternity – what a concept
by Sue Smith
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And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Read Ecclesiastes 11:9–12:7
Having recently retired after more than 38 years working at one company, I thought I was quite aware of what this next phase would mean and bring.
I have watched others go down this path. I’m well aware that you need to have other goals and activities in your life. I regularly exercise and have formed good connections in all the groups to which I belong.
I note with a little chagrin that my body isn’t quite the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago, when everything seemed achievable. I like to think that I am emotionally aware. I also participate in several committees, which keep my brain active. People have told me that it takes a year – and I thought that seemed a little too ‘over the top’. But I have been struggling a little to rediscover my identity in this world.
Today’s passage reminds us of just how quickly life and its twists and turns come and go. It points out quite clearly that this body will return to where it began – dust returning to the earth. Our lives are finite and constrained by what we know of this world.
Recently, when driving on a highway, I was reminded of Keith Green’s song ‘I can’t wait to get to heaven’. He opens it by saying that God made Earth in six days, but Jesus has been working on heaven for two thousand years – so can you imagine what that will be like? There is so much more out there!
Everything starts and ends with God. Take pleasure in what he has given to us here and now, and know that there is even better waiting for us in heaven. Our identity rests in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which completes the yearning of our souls.
Lord God, thank you for fearfully and wonderfully making us to be in communion with you. Help us to surrender and centre our identity on Christ alone, in whom we find the peace our souls long for. Thank you for all the beauty that surrounds us here on this earth, and we look forward to heaven, where we will be with you. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).
Treasure: the value of wisdom
by Sue Smith
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures – then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:4,5).
Read Proverbs 2:1–15
We continue the theme of treasure. There are a lot of action words in this passage – on our part and on God’s part: treasure is used as a verb. To search for treasure, and treasure what we gain!
There is much treasure in wisdom and knowledge. The Lord freely gives wisdom – more so if we cry out for insight and seek it. Then we will gain the understanding of what is right, just and fair!
The Lord promises to shield and guard us as we travel our life’s path and prevent us from going down the wrong paths – that lead to a dead end.
This wisdom will come into our hearts, and knowledge will be pleasant to our souls (verse 10). God’s wisdom will be there through the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you peace.
Forget the treasure in pirate movies – go for God’s gold standard of wisdom and knowledge. It may sometimes be hidden and not so obvious, but it is entirely worth the effort.
Lord God, thank you for lavishing all your gifts upon us, especially wisdom and knowledge. Help us to see and do what is right in your eyes. Continue to shield us in our everyday walk. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).
What is the treasure?
by Sue Smith
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44).
Read Matthew 13:31–33,44–52
The kingdom of heaven is mentioned six times in today’s passage. You know when God wants to get a message across; he puts it on repeat. Jesus also shares the message in a series of parables. Parables are relatable stories drawn from everyday life. They are usually short, succinct and easy to remember. But Jesus uses them to challenge and invite reflection on multiple levels. In the parables, Jesus asks us not just to dip our toes in the water but also to wade in and enter the ocean of deeper meaning … which has no boundaries. ‘Have you understood all this?’ Jesus asks in verse 51.
I’ve often read these parables and thought I understood them – at least on the surface. They appear in great concentration and then are over in no time. So, the ‘treasure hidden in a field’ … is it Jesus? Do we believers need to do the work of finding Jesus as our treasure and then securing the field so that this treasure is not lost? Would we sell everything to obtain the field? Could we be relied upon to do this? By our human nature, we have put ourselves at the centre of this parable. But what happens if we turn it around?
The kingdom of heaven is the treasure here. What if the man is actually Jesus, who has found the kingdom of heaven – the kingdom being of the body of believers? Jesus has found his treasure in us, the church – his bride. In full joy, he then takes all the required steps to secure the treasure – by burying it and selling all he owns to return and buy it as his own. This is what Jesus did in making the ultimate sacrifice of dying to redeem us as his own.
That’s a very different understanding of this parable from what most of us are used to: it turns it on its head! We are the treasure so valued by God that he would send Jesus to restore us to himself. Imagine that!
Lord God, we praise you for your all-encompassing love for us and for how you seek us out as your treasure to redeem. Help us to know your saving love in every aspect of our lives and that through the Holy Spirit, we might experience and pass on the joy that comes with being in union with you. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).