“It’s not fair”-ah the charge against every parent brought by children who did not receive what they wanted or thought they deserved. Has anyone ever asked you, why do you love God? I imagine if I were to ask several people that question I would receive several different answers. Undoubtedly most of the answers would be from a positive perception of God such as “He loves me, He is allowing me to go into heaven, He has forgiven me, etc.” While certainly those are all true and worthy to praise God for I have a slightly different thought. One reason I love God many would say is from a negative perception, but I would challenge that notion and submit to you that it is actually a positive thing. One reason I love God is because He is just. Inherent in the meaning of the word just is the word fair. A parent, boss, coach, or whoever when charged with not being fair almost instantly retorts “life’s not fair.” Like it or not life isn’t fair. Some people seem to get all the breaks while others seem to have everything break on them. The boss may like one employee over another. Parents (unfortunately) may at times treat one child better than another. None of this is right, but in a sinful, fallen world that is reality. This reality only enhances my love for God because He is just. God has given us standards for our life such as there is only one way to heaven (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), we are to live a holy life (1 Pet. 1:16), and if we reject God’s way to heaven we will suffer for all of eternity in hell (Rev. 20:15). Those are just three of the standards that God has given us. However, they show us how God is going to deal with each person regardless of money, race, education, sex, etc. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus Christ is the “same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Like it or not, people treat us differently based on how their day is going many times. In a confession of a sinful, imperfect father, there are days that what my three boys do makes me laugh and other days makes we want to pull my hair out. What changed other than the day? My attitude of how I perceive what they are doing. They are doing the same thing, I am just looking at it differently and many times that is because of the type of day I have had (again this is wrong and I pray God continues to work in me-Phil. 1:6). But God isn’t like this! Abraham when speaking with the “Angel of the Lord” concerning the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah asks an important question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” In other words, can I expect and trust that God in the end will do what is right? Because God is just I have no doubt that in the end He will do what is right. That means that if I follow His ways from my heart I have nothing to fear in the end, because He will do what He has said He will do. Of course on the other hand because God is just, those who reject His standards also know what is coming (even if they want to deny it). At the end of life no one will be able to charge God with not being fair, because He will have had only one standard from beginning to the end. God is not responsible for how we live and deal with His standard, He is only responsible for enforcing His standard.
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him!