kindness

This morning, I’m thinking again about God’s goodness. I got on this train of thought reading in Acts. I came to the story of the time some people from Lystra thought Paul and Barnabas were gods because they healed a lame man. The Lystrans were ready to sacrifice bulls to them, but Paul and Barnabas stopped them with these words, from Acts 14:15-17:

“‘Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.’”

I was struck by two things in this passage. First, for a period God let all the nations go their own way. He didn’t send any apostles or prophets to them. His plan was that Jesus would go to the Jews; the Gentiles would get the good news later on.

But even during that period, God couldn’t help loving all his people – that’s the second thing. He still wanted to be kind to them; he showered them with blessings like rain and growth and seasons. He gave them the great gift of joy, which cannot be found apart from God.

This is what we call common grace, when God’s blessing is showered on people who don’t acknowledge him. Some of God’s goodness touches the entire world, because he created it and loves everything he made.

That’s the new thought for today – this realization of how much God loves people who don’t know him yet. God does, and I should too.