Kindness

God is many things.

God is love.
God is good.
God is Sovereign.
God is All-Sufficient.
God is scary.
God is holy.
God is eternal.
God is a burning bush and a pillar of fire.
God is a rock and a shield and a fortress.
God is the Way, the truth, and the Life.
God is light and in Him is no darkness.
God is all wise and all knowing.

I could go on and on.
I know Him in part.
Some day I'll know Him
even as I am known.
And I think that is why there will be
no end to our worship.
There will be no end to the revelation of God
so there will be no end to our cries,
"Holy, Holy, Holy.
To Him who is, and was, and is to come..."

But for weeks now, maybe months,
I've been thinking about the kindness of God.

Webster says kindness is the
state, quality, or habit
of being kind.

God has a habit of being kind.

I like that.

What does it mean to be kind?

Webster says it means to be agreeable,
gracious, pleasant, sympathetic,
friendly, gentle, generous, cordial.

God is in the habit of being agreeable-
all of His promises are "Yes" and "Amen."

God is in the habit of being gracious-
that is why we can come boldly to the throne
of grace to obtain mercy and find grace in our
time of need.

God is in the habit of being pleasant.
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life.

God is in the habit of being sympathetic.
He is our great High Priest who was tempted
in every area just as we are and He sympathizes
with our weaknesses.

God is in the habit of being friendly.
No longer does He call us servants;
He calls us friends.

God is in the habit of being gentle.
He gathers us lambs in His arms.
His gentleness makes us great.

God is in the habit of being generous.
He daily loads us with benefits
and has given us richly all things to enjoy.

God is in the habit of being cordial.
He crowns us with loving kindness
and tender mercies.

The Psalmist said that God showed him
His merciful kindness in the midst of a
besieged city. There was no way out
of the mess he was in
and God was there in the midst
of his mess, showing him His merciful kindness.
God is not a respecter of persons.
He loves you as much as He loved that Psalmist.

The Psalmist prayed that God's merciful kindness
would be his comfort,
according to His word.
God has promised to comfort us
with His merciful kindness.

Paul, in Ephesians, says
that God has raised us up together
and made us sit together in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come
He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
I don't think I can even begin to fathom
what that means,
but I get the idea that He intends to be good
and kind to me once I get to heaven,
and that comes
after His goodness and mercy have been
following me around all the days of my earthly life.

And then, in Titus,
it says that God has made us His heirs
by justifying us by His grace through Jesus Christ
and this was all done through the kindness
and the love of God our Savior
which He poured out on us abundantly.
Read it for yourself.
It's a bit hard for me to grasp.
Titus 3:4-7.

So the kindness of God is not based on whether
or not you deserve it.
You don't have to earn it.
It will be there whether you receive it or not.

In fact, it is His kindness, that will draw
you to repentance-
not the other way around.
Your repentance does not start up His kindness
but His kindness may start up your repentance.

Repentance sounds so uncomfortable,
but really, I think it basically means,
that we'd rather be closer to God
than closer to our sin.

And if you and I really knew how kind God is,
we'd want to be close to Him.