NEHEMIAH 9:16-19: But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go.”
As we read the Old Testament, remember we are not just encountering exciting history, stories of God’s people, good and bad, and gaining wisdom for daily living. Yes, those are wonderful benefits but we are told in the New Testament these were written as examples for us and to receive instruction (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:6). In today’s scripture, we get both examples and instruction. First, examples. As we read the conduct of God’s people of old, they were presumptuous, stiff-necked, disobedient toward the Lord. Now be slow to say, “How could they after all the Lord did for them?” In fact, be slow and realize, we are just like them at times in our lives. Don’t think so? Have we ever presumed upon God’s goodness? Ever rebel against His will by complaining of circumstances? What about being disobedient to His Word either by willful act or passive neglect? Yes, we are like them in so many ways, that started with our first parents in the Garden of Eden and will continue in every human being till the Lord brings down the curtain on human history.
The next discovery in today’s scripture is instruction, and particularly, about who our God is – But you area God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. One of the great needs among Christians today is a sound Biblical understanding of the character or attributes of our God. This lack of knowledge of God’s Person is a key factor in weak churches, worldly families, and very little influence, if any, Christians are having in our culture as salt and light. And does that not make sense? If a person truly knows God, two things will be present. First, we will be sharing this God. What turned the world upside down in the 1st century? A people who had encountered the One True God through Christ and had to get that truth out into their world. To know God always leads to a passion and action to make Him known. Another reality present in those who know God is an intense desire to know more of Him. Once we taste the goodness of knowing God, the appetite and thirst increases for more. And in getting back to today’s scripture, what instruction do we receive about our God? Much. So much. He is ready to forgive, gracious, merciful, patient and abounding in steadfast love. Is this our God? Are we knowing and experiencing this God? If we are, it will show by our wanting others to know Him while we want to know Him more!
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for being such a glorious God ready to forgive, gracious, loving, and merciful to me – always.”
QUOTE: “Understanding how gracious our God is does not lead to presumption but to praise.”