GOD’S KINDNESS CAUSES US TO CHANGE
“Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance.” Romans 2:4
I am intrigued by the “upside down” way in which God deals with people. When He wants to draw us to Himself, He hides. When He wants us to listen to Him, He whispers, and when He wants to change us, He showers His goodness on us.
Jacob is a case in point. He was an unsavoury character – “deceiver” was his name. After cheating his twin brother out of his inheritance and his father’s blessing as the firstborn, he ran for his life. For some reason which God does not explain, He chose Jacob to be the one in Messiah’s line.
But Jacob was an unlikely candidate. How was God going to shape him into a worthy patriarch of the Jewish nation? Before anything else, Jacob needed a good talking to because of his bad behaviour. Exhausted from his long journey, he put his head on a rock and went to sleep. He had a strange dream; a ladder reaching up into the sky with angels ascending and descending on it and the Lord Himself standing above it. In his dream God spoke to him – not a word of reproach or rebuke, never a threat of punishment.
“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” Jacob could not believe his ears; he who needed to be faced with his wickedness, was hearing gracious words of comfort, promise and blessing. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.” (Genesis 28:13,15).
Jacob was probably more ashamed of what he had done because of God’s kindness than he would have been had he received a sharp rebuke.
Perhaps we can paraphrase the Apostle Paul’s comment this way, “It is God’s kindness to us that causes us to change our minds about Him.” Why do we need to change our minds? Is it not because our opinion of God is sometimes far from what the Scriptures reveal about Him? When Moses asked God to show Him His glory, God responded, “I will cause all my goodness to pass before you.”
God wants us to know how good He is. He showers His goodness on us so that we can change our minds about Him. He wants us to recognise His goodness, celebrate His goodness and honour Him for His goodness. He wants us to respond to His goodness by reflecting it in the way we relate to others.
How do you treat God’s kindness? Paul warned, “Don’t treat God’s kindness with contempt.” Ingratitude is the most subtle way to treat God’s kindness with scorn, as though it were worth nothing. Ingratitude sets our way towards disaster. God is good. Let’s acknowledge His goodness…always.