In the United States, we have just come out of a political season in which candidates for public office were selling the idea of change.  They all promised to change things for the better just like politicians always promise.  Of course, not all changes are for the better.  In fact, considering that our nation is the most free and prosperous nation in the world, it would seem that radical political and governmental changes cannot be good for the country.  Moreover, considering that our nation was founded upon Bible morality and virtues, it would seem that we need to undo the ungodly and irresponsible changes that have been affected in recent generations and go back to our roots.  In other words, we need to change some things back to the right rather than change other things to the wrong.

In general, change is good when it is necessary, but a culture of constant change is unstable and insecure, and it usually leads to evil.  Change for the sake of change creates an environment that has no standard of measure, and it leads to disorder and confusion.  For example, if the speed limits on the streets were changed arbitrarily every day, drivers would not know what speed to drive from day to day, and it would lead to chaos and danger.  Unfortunately, our world is like this.  Worldly standards of behavior shift from year to year because the world does not “retain the standard of sound words” (2Tim. 1:13) provided to us in the Bible.  Instead of retaining that standard, some people of the world seem to engage in a competition to see who can produce the most radical and shocking changes in rebellion against God.  As they do this, they drag the culture along with them, and thus we have the propagation of such things as immodesty, promiscuity, and homosexuality in the world.

Thankfully, our God does not change.  He remains the same forever.  In Malachi 3:6, God said, “For I, the LORD, do not change…”  The word translated in the NASB as “LORD” is the Hebrew word Yhwh or Yĕhovah, which is the name we know as “Jehovah.”  This name literally means “I am,” and it was the name that God gave Himself when He was asked by Moses in Exodus 3:13-15.  This name indicates that He is eternal and does not change forever.  Likewise, the Son of God, Jesus Christ does not change either.  In fact, He invoked the name of Jehovah for Himself in John 8:58 when He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”  The Scripture says of Jesus, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).  Therefore, we do not have to be concerned with a fickle and unpredictable God who changes from day to day or a Savior who will change His terms for our salvation.

Because God does not change, those who build their lives on Him are stable and secure.  The Lord Jesus taught this truth in Matthew 7:24-27.  He said that those who hear His words and act upon them are like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.  The rock does not change when the rains, floods, and winds come, and therefore the wise man’s house did not fall.  Likewise, those who are founded upon the unchangeable Jesus Christ will endure the storms of life without falling.  Contrary to that, those who neglect Christ’s words are like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.  When the rains, floods, and winds come, the sand shifts and changes, and the foolish man’s house suffered a great fall.  In like manner, those who are founded upon the constantly changing ways of the world will be ruined by the storms of life.

Therefore, God is the non-change you can believe in.  You can believe in His word because it is settled forever in heaven (Ps. 119:89).  You can trust in His promises because He is faithful – “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1Thess. 5:24).  Beware of those who love change for the sake of change – “My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to change, for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?” (Prov. 24:21-22).  Instead, stay the course that the unchangeable God has set for you – “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6:16).

Stacey E. Durham