“The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him; 

as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Psalm 108:6-12

I like to think of the things that I can be doing, and should be doing. Often times when I think of God I think of the ways that I am hurting my relationship with Him and all of the things I can do to come closer to Him. Don’t get me wrong, these are great things to observe, but it’s also important for me to stop and remember that the character of God goes far beyond all of the things I can do.

Psalm 108 quotes from Exodus 34 when the Israelites have broken the covenant, and yet God still chooses them and loves on them. Yes, love comes with consequences, but we can’t forget that the Lord is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. These aren’t things that God is working on, this is who He is. His whole character is to love, and that wipes away all of my inadequacies. It overshadows all of my accomplishments. No matter what mess I am in, or what triumph I think I have done, God is greater than it all and loves me the same.

While I recognize that God hates sin, and in Exodus 34 He says that he “will not leave the guilty unpunished,” it is extremely comforting that God’s love in no way has to do with the things that I do. It let’s me be in relationship with Him, not feeling like I have to win His approval. I can rest in Him instead of working while looking over my shoulder and wondering if I am doing enough. When we do things for God we should feel like we can present it as an offering, not as payment.

Once we understand that we can take joy in the things we do for the LORD. We can praise Him and talk to people about Him because we are overflowing with joy. We can be His people, His adopted children and be in relationship with Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you so much that you are gracious and compassionate. That you love us not on our own merit, but rather because you have decided to love us. Help us to remember your grace, not to abuse it, but to rest in it and take joy in serving you. Thank you for not repaying us for what we deserve, Amen.

-Austin Christianson

Shepherding and Worship Pastor