Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

Just as precious as a child is to their parent, so we are to God. He cares for us with tender loving compassion.

We can describe His mercy toward us as being rich and plentiful because there seems to be no end to it and it is refreshed every day.

When we do go astray He will try to persuade us back time and time again just as a true friend would do.

This is all so because God has chosen it to be this way!

Exodus 20:5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Would you dare tell a policeman that you are innocent if they have just caught you read-handed breaking the law?

Sadly we live in a world where that sort of thing is encouraged by lawyers who work to get guilty people set free – sounds a bit like Jerusalem during Christ’s captivity!

God is a jealous God. He knows when we do wrong. He knows when we lie. He knows when we follow others instead of Him.

Don’t try and cover up things before God. He already knows the truth. Admit it to Him.

Exodus 32:4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a moulded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

When you look back at this story, do you think how ridiculous it must have been to see it happen? We do believe some pretty stupid things in our lives until they are set right, so we should not think it that silly.

God knows us and knows how we will react to the world around us. He knows we like to see something physical so we can believe what we see.

That is why He sent Jesus to be with us. That is why He has done many miracles over many years. That is why we have a beautiful world around us.

To allow us to see God is real! Don’t make up your own stories…