Rich Kindness

“God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.”  Romans 2:4

I’m so glad God is rich.  He owns a lot of stuff.  He made the world and everything in it, so by default and design, all matter belongs to Him.  Because we need to remember this, He reminded the ancient Jews— who equated cows with cash—that the cattle on a thousand hills and, all the rest, too, were His(Psalm 50:10).  We money-obsessed Americans should know that God doesn’t even fool with fickle currency; instead, His resources are so overwhelmingly abundant that He can pave heaven’s streets with pure gold(Rev. 21:21).  And need we mention the eternal title He holds to all the galaxies and grandeur of the universe?

But it’s not God’s storehouses of stuff that make me happy and give me hope.  It’s the riches of His mercy(Eph 2:4), His glory(Rom 9:23),His wisdom and knowledge(Rom 11:33), His grace(Eph 2:7), and today, especially today, His kindness, tolerance, and patience(Rom 2:4).  We’re not (or at least, I’m not) always well-stocked in those areas and often find them in short supply in my attitudes toward others.  The Apostle Paul says such poverty shows up when we “as mere men, pass judgment on others for doing wrong while are doing the same things ourselves”(Rom 2:1-4). 

Remember the list from last time?  The list of evil, wickedness, immorality, envy, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, arrogance, pride, disobedience to parents, etc.?    We quickly spot those faults in others, and we loudly point them out and wait impatiently for God to bring judgment and justice upon the trespassers.  But in our haste, perhaps we “show contempt for the riches of God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance”(Romans 2:4). To know something is a sin and to say so is not wrong, but to pretend that you’re better than the one being bad, is.  We all fail.  We all fall. We all are in desperate need of an affluent God who abundantly puts up with us, graciously lets us struggle in our weakness without slamming us, and gently applies the pressure of His holiness to bring us to a place of true sorrow for our sin and desire to turn to His truth.  “God’s kindness leads you toward repentance”(Rom 2:4).

Oh, the joy, the delight, the relief of knowing that our God is rich in kindness, tolerance, and patience!  Oh, the amazement that His blood-stained cross and empty-tomb have secured for us His righteousness and favor!  Oh, the humility in which we live before Him with our arms raised in praise to heaven and opened wide in love on earth to our “fellow-fallers” who are also being led to repentance in God’s time and in God’s way by His rich kindness.  We have no room for contempt of God’s grace—only astonishment and gratitude.

Be excited that God is rich.

Be ecstatic He isn’t stingy.