Everlasting Promise

Things change. We get older. Our babies turn into little humans and then not babies. That device that once did everything can’t keep up a year later. Nothing in this world remains as it was. There is goodness in change. We learn the importance of a sunrise with a cup of coffee as we get older. Our little humans learn to play baseball with us. My device learns to tell me the Diamondbacks score without me even having to think about it.

God designed us for change. Every human changes, even the originals. Adam, who was made fully grown, was changed when God removed his rib to make Eve. Eve, having eaten of the forbidden fruit, was changed so that her children would be brought forth through pain. On my birthday, the change that comes with age is more and more apparent to my back at dawn. God’s plan was to accustom us to change, because we must change.

When Solomon finished the first temple, God came to him in the night with a message of change, a message of gladness and of warning. God shared his pleasure for the great sacrifice Israel had given. They had given of their first fruits, and it showed the right condition of their hearts. God told Solomon, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.” God was pleased, and Israel was rewarded, but the reward came with a warning.

God knew his people would change. Their hearts were right right now, but only for the moment. God knew that eventually, and sooner than they would imagine, Israel would turn their hearts away from God, and towards the things of this world. God knows all things, and so He gave Solomon a warning about the coming change. Israel would come upon hard times because of their worldly desires, but God promised, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” God promised that if Israel would ever wish to change their circumstances, He would not forget them. He promised that if Israel wanted change, He would remove their curse and change it to blessing. God warned them, that if they wanted change, He would look for change in their hearts.

The first change God looks for is the hardest change to see. God looks first for humility. True humility is almost impossible for others to see, but God sees everything. True humility is not self deprecation, God knows our hearts. True humility is humility before God. As David said after he had been confronted by Nathan the Prophet, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Humility must begin in our hearts. Humility must be a new heart condition that acknowledges God before all other things. Humility must be our first change because it it the hardest.

God also looks to see the change in how we communicate with Him. In an age where we over communicate and under relate, where we are overexposed and undereducated, where thoughts and opinions are over sought and under appreciated, God wants to see where he falls on our list. God looks to see if we pray before we make a decision, even though we would text a friend to ask what to eat for lunch. God looks to see if we set aside time for His word, even though we mark our calendars for our favorite weekly tv show. God looks to see if we are willing to share the gospel, even though we will talk for hours about which episode of Star Wars was best. God looks to see, not if He’s on our radar, but if He’s our whole navigation system.

God’s warning to Solomon ends with His most visible request for us. God wants us to turn from our wicked ways. Jesus’ first message in the Gospel of Mark is, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” In the British Army, the command “repent” tells a formation to change direction by 180 degrees. If we want change, we must turn completely away from our wicked ways. If we want change, we must know where God is working in our lives and turn towards Him. If we want change, we must abandon our worldly habits for godly ones. God’s desire is for us to know Him, but we cannot know him while we cling to our sin. We must abandon our sin, and cling to a relationship with God.

King Solomon wrote later in his life that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Change is always change. “The sun rises, and the sun goes down.” The devices we design change from a golden calf, to a snake on a stick, to an electronic device, but they all become idols. God’s people, individually or as a nation, turn towards him and back away. We sin, we repent, we forget. We grow older. We change. “Change is the only constant,” has been said a thousand times, by hundreds of people far smarter than me, but it’s a maxim in this world. God designed it that way, to familiarize us with the concept of change, so that we would know how to find our way back to Him.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to mediate in his temple.
-Psalm 27:4