It's His Goodness...

Read Deuteronomy 9

Are we there yet? How many of us have heard this question, asked this question when going on a long trip? Then we can imagine the Israelites as we read Deuteronomy 9 asking this same question - are we there yet.

Friends, what I want us to focus on after we've read this chapter in Israel's history is the discussion in verse 4 and following where God let's Israel know He is driving out the inhabitants of Canaan (the Promised Land) because of their wickedness and that they are not to think (verse 6) that it has anything to do with Israel's righteousness. You see God then goes on to explain how Israel since the time they left Egypt had been rebellious. He reminds them of their disobedience and lack of trust in Him as their good God. Please don't miss this - God is revealing that they too are a wicked nation. However, it is He who chose Israel to be His people and Moses goes to bat in defense of Israel. Not because they are deserving; but because of who God is He pleads with God for their redemption.

Only when we know the goodness of God like Moses can we truly trust Him. You see, Moses was able to pray for Israel and approach God based on what He knew about God. He knew God is a just God, but He also knew God is a good God. He knew God so well that he was able to trust Him with Israel's future.

And this needs to be true with us. We are rebellious - just like Israel. We are prone to go our own way, do our own thing because at the end of the day we are often at odds with God in our attitudes and actions. But God wants us to know Him so well that we learn to trust that what He asks of us is ALWAYS good for us. It's His Goodness we need come to know and love. And it's important that we know how to come to know His goodness. Psalm 34:8 says taste and see that the Lord is good.

Do you know the goodness of God? Have you been witness to His goodness in your life? Let me encourage you to take time and simply consider how good God has been to you. No matter what we face, when we take time we can see it; we can see His goodness. He's good because of who He is and not because of what He does. But what He does gives us plenty to draw on to see His absolute goodness. Consider His unconditional love for you; consider His unwavering devotion to us in spite of sometimes we are not unwavering in our devotion to Him; and consider how good it is that He wants to have a growing and loving relationship with each one of us.