The Great Commandments- Complacency in God's Attributes

(Number 10 in a series, see numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9)


I've been studying what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In the 1828 Webster's dictionary, one part of the definition of love is. . . the Christian loves God with the love of complacency in his attributes.

It took me a little bit to understand what Noah Webster was trying to say with this because the word 'complacency' in the definition threw me off. However, I believe he was trying to tell us we love God because he does not change- he remains the same throughout eternity.

"I the LORD do not change." Malachi 3:6a

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Knowing that God does not change is important to the faith and trust we place in Him. We trust that what God said and did in the past is still true today. We trust He hasn't changed His mind on His plan for humanity. We trust that He is still a God who keeps His promises.

Have you ever fallen in love with someone based on who you thought that person was, only to find out later that it was all a facade, and the person was nothing like you originally thought?

Or, maybe you became friends with someone who seemed to have similar interests as you. Then, you found out the person was playing a part because they were to afraid to be their true self around you but, nevertheless, they were not the person you thought them to be.

It can be devastating when you begin to trust in someone and make commitments based on who you perceive someone to be, only to find out they are not at all like you thought. It's hard to trust anyone again after being deceived.

Satan works like this. Deceiving us into thinking he has our best interest at heart, that he is good for us, and he gets us to go along with him. Then, he turns out to be this hopeless, disgusting, evil beast that we greatly misjudged. We are left empty, broken, and alone.

However, we don't have to worry about that with God because He never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. There is no deceit or sin in Him. He is perfect and unchanging, and because of that we can have complete trust and faith in Him. He is worthy of our total surrender! He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life! We can trust in His Word as Truth, and so we have another reason why He should have our total devotion and love.

May you really see the unchanging qualities of our Lord and completely trust in Him in total surrender. Oh, what sweet bliss to rest in Him!