In the last blog, we talked about
the mercy of God as revealed in His conversation with Moses on the mount. He passed by and declared the first part of
His name as: “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in
goodness and truth…”
God declared Himself as “gracious”,
but look at how Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines the word (this is lifted
directly from the web.)
Definition
of gracious
2a: marked by
kindness and courtesy a gracious host
b: GRACEFUL
d: characterized
by charm, good taste, generosity of spirit, and the tasteful leisure of
wealth and good breeding gracious living
When you read that definition, did
you notice the arrogance that emerged, especially in the last half? Being “godly”,
to the world is obsolete; and being “pleasing” and “acceptable” is archaic. However,
it is the goodness/graciousness of God that leads us, as individuals, to repentance.
God’s graciousness is more akin to
compassion, mercy or unmerited favor toward one who is underserving. God is
about love, not looking down on others or reserved to enjoying leisure, but rather
He has identified Himself with us; sacrificed His only beloved Son for our
salvation.
No, godliness, graciousness nor
grace is obsolete – it is GOD! The ever present omnipotent God!
“The Lord said, “I’ll
make all my goodness pass in front of you, and I’ll proclaim before you the
name, ‘The Lord.’ I will be kind [gracious] to whomever I wish to be kind,
and I will have compassion [graciousness] to whomever I wish to be
compassionate [gracious].” Exodus 33:19 CEB translation
