He Has Not Changed

Leviticus 10:1-3 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord . And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’ ” So Aaron held his peace.

Can any of us imagine what serving the LORD would be like if He took immediate action to deal with our sins at the very moment we sinned against Him? The thought of that should make us appreciate just how amazing God's grace is, and how longsuffering He is toward us. The fact of the matter is that the same God who killed Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, for offering profane fire before the Lord, in disobedience to God's command, is the same God we serve today. He has not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrew 13:8). If this is true, which in fact it is; it means that we have to stop and seriously consider how much we truly offend the Lord with our constant tendency to sin. Some of the same sins that we make very little effort to resist, by drawing near to Him, would have caused our immediate death in those days. Yet, He tells us that with each temptation He makes a way of escape for us (1 Corinthians 10:13). In 2 Samuel 6, God killed Uzzah for touching the Ark of the Covenant, even though Uzzah had good intentions in trying to keep it from falling off the cart. Yet, how often do we sin against God and merely make excuses for why we did it? How often do we sin without remorse, then blame someone else for why we did it? It is both sad and tragic to think that today we have preachers in local churches who preach messages that sugarcoat sin, and even avoid talking about sin for fear of offending; painting a picture of God that does not line up with the God of the Bible. He is a God who hates sin so much that He sent His only begotten Son to suffer a cruel, bloody, and torturous death, in order that our sin debt would be paid. It is long past the time that we acknowledge our sin for what it is; not in our eyes, or from our point of view, but from God's point of view. That should break our hearts and drive us to our knees in mournful repentance before the Lord. The next time, which will likely be soon, we sin against the Lord, we need to stop and consider who it is we are sinning against; a God who has killed His own people in order that the message would be crystal clear that He is holy, and will be glorified before all people. Praise be to Jesus that in Him we have so much grace, mercy, and love, demonstrated toward us each and every moment of each and every day.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).