January 27 – All of creation

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?  (Romans 2:4 HCSB)

When I worked at our church in the Los Angeles area, we used to film students at one of the California State University campuses to interview them about their thoughts on God and the supernatural.  A very small percentage actually believed in the God of the Bible, but most of them just called themselves “spiritual.”  When we asked if they’d ever seen a miracle, many would answer yes.  The fact that the sun rose that morning, that they were alive, that they had families and food and shelter and the chance to study were common examples of “miracles” they gave.  That wasn’t what we meant by seeing miracles, but it brought up another point.  If these weren’t just random occurrences, but given out of the kindness of God, wouldn’t that mean that there needed to be a response to God on their part?

In the chapter before this one, Paul explains, “His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”  Just looking at the immensity of the universe, the perfect intricacy in our planet’s ability to sustain such abundant and beautiful life, and how unique every creature is should be enough to humble ourselves before God and see that He real, almighty, loving and good.  Those who choose to argue that God doesn’t exist, that life is the result of chaos that arbitrarily turned into order, are people who are determined not to see Him and ignore the emptiness they feel that longs for His presence.  No one has an excuse to claim that they never knew He was real.  

When someone says they’re just fine without God, it’s easy to assume that they really mean what they say.  They may seem convincing, but the truth is that all human beings were created to intimately know their Creator.  Our minds and emotions have the capacity to deceive ourselves into believing all kinds of lies.  Just like Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable…”  It’s a master of self-deception, and the most dangerous lie of all is that it doesn’t need a Savior.  This is how people are despising the riches of His kindness every day all over the world.  

Every solitary breath of air you breathe is a gift that you don’t deserve.  Your children are not yours, your health, your skills, your body and mind are not yours, but all gifts of kindness.  The times you have ignored Him and acted against what you knew He wanted from you were sins and worthy of punishment, but He shows restraint and patience because He loves you.  Respond to all He has given you by repenting and allowing Him to transform you into a new creation. All of nature is proclaiming God’s love for you – even the tiniest raindrop.