The people of Israel were set apart by God to be His people, His shining example of the relationship He wanted with all people. But Israel was just like the rest and failed to be faithful and obedient. Rather than turning to the one true, loving and faithful God who rescued them, they continued to sin and turned to idols. From His covenant with Israel in the Old Testament to Christ’s sacrifice in the New Testament, God demonstrates again and again how wide He has spread His arms to bring me home. God didn’t change for me. No, for me He remains the great I Am.
People often want God to change for themselves—Oh, God doesn’t mind if I do that, wink wink. People like to imagine that God is trendy enough to change with the times, but “the times” are merely a figment of that fantasy. Society’s decisions to part from God’s will do not change God’s will. Thank God, His will is to love us and reconcile us to Him, so He changes us.
Jesus died on the cross to make it possible for me to change. Without Him, I would be hopeless to find my way to God. I would be wandering from idol to idol and making promises I cannot keep. My works would fail to cover my endless failures, no calf is perfect enough to fix the fix I’ve created. But the perfect blood of Jesus, shed instead of mine, healed me and gives me endless new beginnings. Christ’s saving grace has the power to shape my heart to God’s.
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Jeremiah 31:31
Meeting God at the Park 