January 21, 2004

  • Slapping God in the Face


    My intense and rapid search through the Scriptures has come to a halt in the last few days due to the second verse in Malachi.  The Lord said, "I have loved you" - point blank to Israel.  God really took a risk there; He totally initiated love when there was absolutely nothing going on.  Israel wasn't even thinking about Him!  And the thing is that those words weren't just fluff.  They were a declaration of something that He had already proven to be true.  How?  In setting them free from captivity and bringing them back "home."  God was totally committed to them.  He chose to give them another chance because of the committment He had made to them decades before.  He just chose to demonstrate His love, and then declare it with words... and then wait for a response.  It's so amazing!


    And so shocking that the Israelites would question, "How have you loved us?"  Wow, what a slap in the face after all that He had done for them.  But don't I do exactly the same when I doubt His love, His promises and His goodness toward me?  When I'm angry and frustrated because I think He's withheld something good from me, at that point, I've done exactly the same thing.  I've slapped God in the face!