“I wonder how the nutrition is rated on this cereal,” my daughter inquired one day this week as we shopped together. A quick scan of the bar code with my iPhone provided the information we wanted and helped us make our purchases.
The phone I used as a child was attached to the kitchen wall. Our television was a small black and white model we had to manually control. Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo were my programming choices and there were no DVDs, Xbox live headsets to hook up and certainly no reality cable shows.
The good family car was a Ford Falcon, which had no air conditioning, much less XM Radio. We played records on a hi fi stereo system, recorded treasured family moments using large video cameras and did not experience the pleasure of diving into a nice hot bag of microwave popcorn until my teen years.
My husband’s high school graduation gift was a coveted handheld calculator, and I was among the last group of undergraduate English majors to type each paper on an electric typewriter.
We lived without telecommuting, Twitter and Words with Friends. My family’s set of Encyclopedia Britannica took up an entire wall. Today, we travel the Internet to view original manuscripts and watch servicemen surprise their children as they return from deployments.
Yet, I can’t live in this world without God. That’s because faith in Him can never be unplugged. And one of the best ways to grow faith is to examine the character of God.
Here’s what I know, based on what is explained in the Bible:
God is unchangeable. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
God is almighty. “For nothing is impossible for God.” (Luke 1:37)
God is faithful. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is his faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
God is good. “Give thanks for the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” (Psalms 136:1)
God is forgiving. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
God is loving. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
God is merciful. “But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)
God is creative. “How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (Psalm 104:24)
The seasons change, the kids grow, gas prices rise, parents go out to sea, technology infiltrates our daily routines. God draws near, as always. Steady. Unchanging. Loving. Present.
