Day 8: The Immutability of God
James 1:17 instructs us that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Change. It is something that we humans deal with every day:
- Growth brings change.
- Circumstances can change our perspective, outlook, and routines.
- Changes in our health can dictate the course of our schedule and life.
- Relationships, jobs, and even the weather impact our daily lives.
To say that God is immutable is to say that God cannot change. He is unchanging. The truth of this fact is foundational to our faith in Him and trust in His Word. To be able to take Him at His Word requires that He is unchanging.
We watch all of life and nature around us adapt to change — but this is not part of God’s character. However, this ability for us to experience change is a matter for great thankfulness. A.W. Tozer shares, “For human beings the whole possibility of redemption lies in their ability to change.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 captures this when we see the transformation from death to life, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
And so we rejoice both in the fact that God is unchanging and in the fact that He allows us to be changed.
Take comfort in some of the closing words of the chapter, “Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures, toward babies, toward the sick, the fallen, the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for mankind.”
Prayer:
O Christ our Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. As conies to their rock, so have we run to Thee for safety; as birds from their wanderings, so have we flown to Thee for peace. Chance and change are busy in our little world of nature and men, but in Thee we find no variableness nor shadow of turning. We rest in Thee without fear or doubt and face our tomorrows without anxiety. Amen. – A.W. Tozer
Response:
Looking back over your life, how can you give thanks for the gift that God has given us to experience change?
Looking back over your life, how can you give thanks for the fact that God is unchanging?