Christian Devotional – August 26, 2023

The Coming Savior, Day 34

The characteristics of God. Read Exodus chapter 34.

We see many things in this chapter. Moses experiences the consequences of his sin. God describes himself. We also see the result of a relationship with God. Of all those ideas today, what struck me is the idea that God describes himself. God tells Moses who he is and describes himself to Moses as loving, compassionate, and slow to anger. He also explains that he will punish sin and that evil cannot stand in his sight.

Often, we struggle with those two concepts going together. In our minds, someone is either loving or they are judgmental. For God, he is both. He is the judge of the wrongs that we do. However, he is also infinitely loving. Those two truths do go together.

When we think about our relationship with Christ, do we understand that yes, he is going to judge us and the wrongs that we have done will require payment. But also, God is loving and loves more than anyone else that we will ever experience. Do we recognize and accept God’s description of himself, even if we don’t understand how those two ideas, love and judgment, fit together. Do we praise God for who he is every day?