I carry an exercise book with my virtually everywhere I go these days. It contains lecture and seminar notes, sermon ideas, cartoon ideas and just general intersting stuff that I think I should write down.
Anyway, reading through it today, I came across this quote. I have no idea who said it or in what context, but I thought it was worth posting here for discussion:
God doesn’t keep saying the same thing when he has already told us once. We have heard and should know…
Do you agree with this or not?
Part of me agrees, in that God has spoken through his word and much of how he wants us to live is there in plain black and white (or red and white) if we bothered to study it properly.
But part of me disagrees. If I told my wife I loved her once, and only once, then our relationship would be doomed. She knows it, but likes to hear it and feel it often. God loves us, and I reckon he likes to tell us in lots of different ways at lots of different times.
What do you reckon?
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telling and showing/expressing emotion are different- though we, in English, use the same word- “he told me he loves me!” and “he told me not to go into the shed” use the same word, told, but are in different ways.
For example, if you told Thomas he wasn’t allowed to go out to the street by himself, and he did, you would punish him, stating- “Thomas, you KNOW you aren’t allowed to go out there by yourself” - even if you had told him just once. (and made sure it was particularly impactful, of course)
but then again, you love your sons so much you want to show them that you do- so you do, often.
I reckon I’d struggle to go along with this idea. I think that God, in his grace, gives us a few shots at hearing what he’s saying to us. Like Jonah being given a second shot at preaching to Ninevah after screwing it up the first time. I’m pretty sure that God’s put things back in my path after I’ve messed up when I’ve tried the first (and second and third..) go around.
Yep. i agree with Geoff. that God has had to tell me over and over again different things. He tells me again in different ways perhaps, but it is still telling me the same thing. and sometimes we have learnt something but then we learn it again but with more “information” the second time around because God keeps building on what He has already told us. does that make sense?anyway whoever wrote that quote i think is potentially off the mark.but it depends entirely what context it was in.i don’t think God ever stops talking to us and i especially dont think He stops telling us the same truths over and over again.(He’s gotta get it into our heads&hearts somehow!!)
there is a lot of repetition in the Bible- not only quoting of previous stuff (Paul is good for this) but also different perspectives on the same thing- namely the gospels. Aren’t the ten commandments listed in Exodus, Leviticus AND Deuteronomy? (at least two of those…)
I think God retells stories.
there’s four gospels, right?
i think that if God told us something only once then we would b pretty lost in this crazy world! i believe as others have said that he does tell u the same thing more than once, even if it is in a different context, or way… if he didnt i kno that i would miss quite a few of the messages or misinturperet alot of important things… i feel that if God did not repeat himself to me sometimes than i would have no chance to survive in this world what so ever…
and as humans even though we ’should kno’ we dont always want to know or remember… so i think God’s repeating is quite real in our lives.