Daily Devotional for Thursday, June 6

The Contempt of the Godless

“He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it,” Psalm 10:11.

One brownie will not hurt you. That is the problem. If I eat one brownie, I will not get sick, and I do not feel any different. But if I eat one brownie a day, over time it will catch up with me. The pounds will set in, the body will change, and my health will decline. In a similar way, the wicked of Psalm 10 committed an act of wickedness and did not immediately feel the consequences. So, he sinned again and again, committing more acts of wickedness. Over time, this person felt that God either did not exist, or He did not care.

God’s kindness and patience is often misunderstood as weakness or absence. God may not immediately act against our every disobedience. I am so very thankful for that. I do not fear being divinely slapped in the back of the head every time I mess up. I do not fear being squashed by God every time I cross the line against Him.

As thankful as I am for this, I must never mistake His patience with me or with humanity for what it is not. There were some in Peter’s day who thought God was slack concerning His promises. It was not slackness; it was God’s longsuffering attitude toward humanity and His unwillingness to see any perish (2 Peter 3:9). His patience, however, will have a final end date. God will judge and bring everything under His rule.

As you enjoy the grace and patience of God, do not slip into the mind set of the wicked in thinking that God is okay with your sin. Do not feel that God must not really care. Let God’s kindness bring you to repentance rather than lull you to sleep in your sin.

REFLECTION
Grace is God’s active strength in reserve, and mercy is God’s reserving strength in action.

Jason Rutherford