God Shows and Doesn’t Show

March 19, 2009

Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 3-4 and Romans 1

One of the things that makes God such an interesting character is the fact that He is both consistent and non-consistent.

It is revealed in today’s reading in Deuteronomy, that God did what he did for the Hebrews because he wanted to show the Israelites that He is, in fact, God. He reminds the Israelites of where they have been, and then asking them if anyone else has ever done anything like what God has done.

Seriously, I can’t think of anyone either. I have to admit that I loved God’s hands-on approach as the Israelites, and I wouldn’t mind if God did that for me.

What is interesting is the reading in Romans today sort of gives a near-contrasting view of God. There seems to be idea in Romans that the wrath of God is reveal from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness. This doesn’t sound like the kind of revelation that was done by parting the Red Sea, as there is implication that the world can not really see the evidence of God.

Oddly enough, there are times that God just sort of backs off. Seriously, if someone wants to embrace sexual immorality, God will let them. In fact, He might make it easy for someone to get their sexual game on. I’m not certain why God just doesn’t put a block on everyone who wants to sin. Some may say that God is unfair, that he put a flaming sword around the Tree of Life after Adam ate from the Tree of Conscience. Why didn’t God just put the flaming sword around the Tree of Conscience in the first place?

Maybe because he actually values our free will. He values it so much that he is willing to let us sin, even though the consequences could be dire.

He does give us a conscience that is consciously aware that God is over the entire universe. If God puts that in everyone’s heart, then there must be some sort of door in our mind that we can shut and possibly lock if we want to ignore God.

I suppose that would mean that we wouldn’t have to put God in our hearts and minds at all. We could actually say, “nah, God’s not there”.

I must admit that I have never said that, and there have been times that I wanted to. The truth is that I can’t stand the idea of a world without God. Perhaps that makes me weak. Maybe I’m playing life too safe, always worried about the consequences of my actions. In other words, I don’t want hell.

I just think that shutting down the “God-sense” in my brain will kill this life and the next. God help me if that ever happens.