Predictable

One thing I love about scripture (and the God who breathed life into it) is the consistency and dependability of its standards. Sometimes people struggle to reconcile the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament. How can a God who commands us to love, forgive and serve even our enemies be the same God who marched the Israelites into war and told them to take no prisoners? On the surface, it is difficult to understand - and some might even allow it to make the whole of the Christian faith seem illegitimate.

My simple response to these struggles would be that the character and priorities of God never change. The way that His character and priorities are demonstrated in the world change depending on the context and place in time in redemptive history - but the truth is that God's standards for us are not different than they were 2,000 years ago!

Matt is reading Leviticus again. When I say that, I don't mean reading through a chapter a day until he is through. I mean that there are 4 commentaries piled on the floor; each one digging into the original culture, context, and language of the book. I think this is the 3rd time in 4 years that he has studied Leviticus so deeply. I can't help but laugh when I think about his fascination with this book - it is a part of the bible that a lot of us skim over or even avoid.

His passion for studying Leviticus, though, is a great reminder that the Old Testament can teach us just as much about God's character and priorities as the New Testament can! We have to do a little more work to connect and relate the stories of old to our cultural context now - but the same God who commanded sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins in Leviticus is knocking at your door and asking you to accept the sacrifice of His Son as the forgiveness for your sins here and now!!

God never changes. And in a world that seems so uncertain, unstable, and unpredictable - that is the most wonderfully comforting and peace-giving truth that we can know.

And once we accept the beautiful and comprehensive salvation that He offers, we can also know that His view of us will never change either.

Hallelujah. What a Savior.