God is not a buffet

As silly as this might sound, let me be honest with you in saying that I’m learning to heed godly advice and wisdom. I know, something I probably should have already had down by this point, but for the past several weeks, this has been hammered into my very soul –

“Seek wisdom and pursue it. Don’t dismiss godly counsel to go running after what you think is best.”

These words have been at work within my heart and soul, therefore, let me start by saying that before I get into everything I want to say in regards to today’s blog title, I want to ask you a few questions. Just yesterday, I read a tweet from a well-known and followed blogger, and he said something like this, “Make sure you don’t just tell your readers what you think they need to hear, but ask them questions.” So, here goes my attempt at heeding advice!

Questions for you:

1. Do you believe that God is good? (Psalm 25:8)
2. Do you believe that God is just? (Deuteronomy 32:4)
3. Do you believe that God is merciful? (Titus 3:5)
4. Do you believe that God is holy? (Isaiah 6:3)
5. Do you believe that God is forgiving? (1 John 1:9)
6. Do you believe that God is wrath? (Jeremiah 25:15)
7. Do you believe that God is love? (1 John 4:8)
8. Do you believe that God is unchanging? (Hebrews 13:8)
9. Do you believe that God is jealous? (Exodus 20:5)
10. Do you believe that God is sovereign? (Matthew 28:18)

Just in case you were worried, these are not trick questions. In fact, if you’re unsure, I included Scripture references for you to look up for each. There are many more attributes of God that we could take a look at today, but I think this is a good start. What were your answers to questions 1-10? If this were a quiz or a test, it would be a pretty easy one, because every answer should be the same: YES. Our differing answers will lie in what you believe about God to be true. Let me submit to you today one powerful, true, and trustworthy statement:

Our beliefs about God must be measured and determined by His Word.

In other words, God is who HE says He is, not who you think He is. We live in a world that is catered to our every want and whim. Even down to our diets, you can decide between Paleo, gluten-free, and the list goes on. It blows my mind how even internet marketing seems to “know” all of my interests simply by the ads that pop up while I’m surfing the web. Every part of our lives, for the most part, can be tapered to fit our every desire, and that is just how we like it to be. Your way, right away is a slogan that we have unfortunately and foolishly embraced. I want to tell you today, based on the authority of God’s Word, that we are foolish to approach God in the same way. God is not a buffet, and neither Him nor His Word should be approached as such.

Just the other day, I read a bold statement by a very influential person that I believe represents a larger majority than you or I would think. In response to an ongoing debate about God, sin, and consequences, he said, “I’m not interested in a just God.” What I wanted to say in return, but kept myself from doing for many reasons, was, “Well, too bad, because it’s not up to you to decide that.” God IS just, whether we like it or not, which assumes that there are consequences for sin and our folly of rejecting His mercy, forgiveness, and grace. God is also fully love at the same time. Just because we can’t wrap our minds around the fact that both justice and love can co-exist in God does not in the slightest way make Him less of either attribute. We have wrongly assumed that we have the right to instruct God’s Word and speak into it. The Bible isn’t missing anything, certainly not anything that we could add to it. What God’s Word says about Himself is complete, sufficient, and true, period. He is not a buffet where we can come and pick and choose the parts of Him that are most palatable to us, the parts that are easy to swallow. It’s all or nothing. He’s after our whole hearts, not part. We err greatly when we believe that we have any right to determine who God should be. He just is.