Are you grieving God?

Going through Genesis, we firstly see the joy and wonder of creation, and the imagination, purity and delight of God in what He has made, but soon it all goes wrong….

Why does it go wrong?

Well, pretty much because mankind want to do things their way. Adam and Eve were tempted, and then the initial mistrust in God then leads into sin, depravity and destruction as we through the synopsis of chapter 5. Then we hit chapter 6, and the sad reality; 

‘The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. *6*And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.’

Genesis 6:5-6

God allowed, and still allows, humans to make up their own minds, to have opinions and choices, but what does getting our own way lead to? If we take Adam and Eve as an example, and consider the reality of our own lives, we can see that doubting God and His goodness leads to thinking we know better and not doing as He wants. This can commence the rapid descent into sin, just like it did for Adam and Eve.

Without challenging the doubt of God, and remembering who God really is did not end well for the first humans in existence, for the generations that followed them it ended up with; murder, boasting, polygamy, unhealthy relationships and further distance put between God and His own creation. The same can happen for you, in your life, for your descendants. 

What would God see if He looked at you life today? 

You have a choice. You get to decide whether you live a life faithful to God or not. 

I am really struck by the last 5 words of verse 6, that the sin on the Earth, 'grieved him to his heart.’ I want no part of grieving God, do you? 

Do you know why God grieves? Do you realise that only things that are dearly loved are dearly grieved? It is because of God’s enormous love for you that you grieve Him when you do things wrong, and lead your life on a trajectory further and further away from Him. It is not because God hates you that He grieves, but because of the depth of love He has for you - His creation, a person made in His very own image.

Take a moment to consider the immensity of God's love for you, and then reflect on the way your life is going, what direction are you taking? Are you making decisions that are moving towards or away from Him?