Rules That Don’t Change - Martin Wiles

For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Malachi 3:6 NKJV

Rules that don’t change do exist.

“Please don’t ask me that.”

For fifteen years, my wife had permitted the question. Suddenly, she didn’t want me to ask it anymore. In my mind, the question was harmless, but it grated her nerves. I said, “Okay,” and went about my business, but I couldn’t help but think of a few questions she asked me that irritated me a little.

What’s a couple to do? How can they know what to ask and what not to ask? I suppose I could make a list with headings: “Acceptable Questions,” “Unacceptable Questions,” and “Questions I’m Not Sure Of.” But who has time to consult such a list?

Conversations usually happen abruptly. Rarely do I have time to consult a list before I speak. I can envision me saying to my wife as we converse, “Honey, wait a minute. Let me consult my list before I ask the question I want to ask.” Or her saying the same to me.

The rules had changed for a fifteen-year-old question. Now I had to adapt. Fortunately, God doesn’t operate the same way. Through the prophet Malachi, He told the people He never changed. Specifically, in this case, His grace never changed. That’s why God had not consumed them because of their disobedience.

We live in a world where some old rules change, and lawmakers and others make new rules. As a teacher, we often have a few new rules every time a new school year begins. And every church I’ve belonged to had rules that changed or were newly established.

God’s rules don’t change. However, moral absolutes—along with absolute truth—do exist, regardless of what people think. God’s Word houses both. 

For me, that’s comforting. To know I can go to a place where things stay the same, no matter how much the world around me changes. To find things that held truth in the beginning and still do thousands of years later.

Finding absolute truth—and believing that God’s Word is absolute truth—brings a sense of peace and confidence. God will be fair and judge by truth that never changes. He won’t change His mind about forgiving my sins or letting me into heaven. He won’t alter the way He thinks about working all things together in my life for my good. He won’t love me today but stop tomorrow. The list is endless, but the point is clear: some things never change.

In a world where the rules often change, thank God that His moral absolutes never do.

Prayer: Father, we thank You for Your unchanging truth. 

Tweetable: Are you obeying the rules that don't change? 

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