God in Relaionships

Part 1...
                
     The God of the Old Testament seems so strict when compared to Jesus and the New Testament.  Why?  If God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow how can His personality change so much?  This is a question I hear from time to time from students, and I have even wondered it myself.  I am not claiming to have all the answers and by no means have I figured everything out, but I have a little light to share on the subject.  
               
     I believe all the things God gives us in life are here to point us to Him or to help us learn and understand more of God.  From the beginning of our life God gives us parents, two people, deeply invested in us.  I realize this may not be the case with some parents, but this how God intended the family unit to work.  Parents love their children and with this love comes the dreaded rules put in place on their children.  It’s much the same with God.  In the Old Testament He was parenting, for the most part, the new child/nation of Israel.  God wanted His people to Love Him with all their heart, but it just was not sinking in.  

    Think of running a day care for 3-4 year olds and telling them to, “Love me, and do things based on your love for me.”  The idea would not work because the children would not really understand what that meant.  When a four year old wants a toy to play with the first thought is not, “How would my teacher acquire the toy.”  No, a four year old goes takes the toy and begins playing.  The same is true of people, we need to have rules laid out for us to know what God wants from us.  So, God started off with the Ten Commandments, which He later explained even further to help the idea drive home.  God was slowly helping His children grow and mature in their knowledge of Him… Eventually people grow up and God sees it’s time to give a new relationship to learn from…

​Part 2 coming soon…