“I am the LORD, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost. Malachi 3:6, GNT

 

 

The meaning of the word unchangeable can have a positive or negative connotation in our minds. When we say God is unchangeable, some people see him as tyrannical, strict and rigid, but that is not what the Bible tells us.

 

In both verses for today, as well as numerous others in the Bible, it is quite clear that God’s unchanging nature benefits us.

 

In the book of Malachi, God is in a very serious debate with his people. Although they had been back from exile for many years by this point, things were not going well, even though the temple had already been rebuilt. If we read between the lines, it seems that they were blaming God for their problems.

 

In Malachi 3:6, God said that it was not he who changed; on the contrary, it was because his love for his people did not change that he did not destroy them. God goes on to say that they “are not yet completely lost.” He was the one who brought them back from exile. If he was the tyrant they made him out to be, he would have left them in exile, as they richly deserved. They would never have seen their country again. But because he does not change, he stayed true to his side of the covenant.

 

Our verse from the New Testament gives us the same message. James uses a beautiful metaphor to show that God is unchanging. He describes God as akin to the heavenly lights – always the same, never changing. He keeps giving us his good and perfect gifts without change. One of the commentaries that I read emphasises that the Greek words in the verse actually mean that God’s good gifts keep coming from heaven without ever ceasing.

 

God is always the same, from the time of creation and through the days of Malachi and James, right up to the present moment.

 

Prayer: Unchanging God, we want to jump for joy because we know your love for us will never change. We are ever grateful. Amen.