The flavours of God

Yesterday, while visiting my parents' church, we were encouraged to taste the flavours of God. I'm currently teaching an overview of the Old Testament to two classes of 9 & 10 year olds in a local school - so it got me thinking about some of the flavours they would see through Old Testament eyes. One of the (many!) reasons I love exploring the Old T with children is that God's faithfulness shines through so clearly. They see that God is both Promise-Maker and Promise-Keeper. His people are often faithLESS, but the Lord is always faithFUL. The Old T also introduces us to many kings and rulers - some of them, like Pharaoh, with extraordinary levels of power. BUT, no one can stand against the Lord. He is the Real King (another of my favourite titles for God).

Our wonderful God is the Promise-Maker, the Promise-Keeper and the Real King. Strong positive concepts - shown by thrilling Old T stories, that capture children's imagination. But, I've also been spending time in Psalm 103 recently, so here are some more flavours to savour:

• He 'forgives all your sins' (v3)
• He 'redeems your life from the pit' (v4)
• 'He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities' (v10)
• 'As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him' (v11)
• 'As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him' (v13)
• 'The Lord has extablished His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all' (v19)

You can see why I get so excited about exploring the Old T with children. I long for them to meet the Real King, who makes and keeps amazing promises, and who is 'compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love' (v8). Such wonderful flavours...