Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8, ESV)
Whenever our senses find something good, tendrils of longing for that good extend within us. That beautiful sunny day at the golf course—if only all golfing days were bright as such! That electric feeling from striking the sweet spot—if only each swing led to such ecstasy! That clear view in the mind’s eye of the line of the putt—if only each look yielded such certainty! That carefully rehearsed chip with a “one hop and stop” spin—if only every chip performed with such obedience!
The aim of practice in golf is to craft and rehearse as best we can to create excellent and repeatable swings and strokes. Professionals and amateurs alike diligently work each day at perfecting every process and routine. The heart’s deep search is for a bliss that lasts forever, which is never quite within reach. The reality is that our natural tendencies and swing faults are more easily repeatable, and our relentless search only reveals how temporary and fleeting earthly excellence really is.
Today’s verse is almost too simple in that we might overlook the depth of what it teaches us about Christ, our Savior. We might even wield this verse without asking ourselves if we really believe what it says, and ignore the nagging questions that wake up in our hearts from pondering such revelation. At once we are thrown into the eternity and deity of Christ. And then his eternal sameness (Hebrews 1:12, Malachi 3:6 also) is mixed in and we wonder if it really means what it says. There is much more to the unchangeableness of God, but today we will peek at the unchangeableness of his love.
It is difficult for us to fathom immutability because our being as a creature is correlative to mutability. We and this world are constantly changing. We are born and we grow; we are born again and we grow. Many fears concern this growth: What will I become? When will I change? What will happen if this or that? If God is not committed to our wholeness and sanctification, we should worry and wonder if we will even wake up a Christian tomorrow!
The real question that seems to lurk underneath it all, the one we really want to ask is this: is he really unchanging in his love to me? J.I. Packer, in his wonderfully pastoral book Knowing God, makes the biblical distinction that the statement “God is love” is not the complete truth about God as far as the Bible is concerned, but “God is love” is the complete truth about God so far as the Christian is concerned (Jeremiah 31:3). What a glorious gift, to know Christ’s love is unchanging toward us, in the midst of our unfaithfulness and sin!
When we offend friend or foe, we fear their retributive glances. We might even avoid them at the course, and miss a chance to have an honest and reconciliatory conversation. We need to have no such fear with our Savior, as his loving gaze and arms forever pursue us with gifts of his grace. His face is always inviting, his blood forever clothing us, and his embrace everlasting. We come to him in prayer and repentance as a bride walks to her bridegroom; how he smiles of delight as she approaches him, for he sees her in her wedding gown adorned with beauty! And it is with the beauty of his holiness that we are adorned with—oh, for eyes to behold and look upon this truth in faith!
In Jesus Christ resides unchanging love; that is how he is our strong anchor in times of suffering and distress. In his heart resides glory infinitely brighter than all sunny days, love sweeter than all sweet spot strikes, a Word surer than all our certainties, and a simply perfect obedience to the Father. All of this he gives to us freely. I know, it’s hard to believe.
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Isabelle Beisiegel
February 19, 2015
Copyright 2015 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.