Times of Ignorance

March 10

Acts 17:30-31

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness…”

Have you ever been told this: “You should know better”? It stings a little to hear those words. There is a distinct difference between being ignorant and being disobedient. In his grace, God has “overlooked times of ignorance”. But those times have come to an end.

As a parent, we see this in our children all the time. A parent must be able to identify the difference between carelessness and disobedience… recklessness and defiance. When we are young in our faith there are many things we are ignorant of. We must not remain ignorant forever though. Sooner or later, our action transition from carelessness and recklessness to disobedience and defiance. We transition from “not knowing and better” to “you should know better”. God is speaking to us as his people… leading us in the ways everlasting… those ways that lead to LIFE. “For what can be known about God is plain to (us) , because God has shown it to (us). For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So (we) are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20) God has written on the tablet of our hearts his decrees. (cf. Rom. 2:15) This is why God now commands ALL people to repent. It is not because God is impatient, quite the opposite… he is willing to “overlook the times of ignorance”… but God is simply NOT WILLING to leave us ignorant! He has and is revealing himself. So we cannot remain ignorant. We must embrace that there is a “fixed day on which (God) will judge the world.”

When we are still before the Lord, he opens our eyes to himself. We see his eternal attributes in creation. We sense his law written on our hearts. More often than not, we “know” the right thing to do… maybe it is more like we FEEL the right thing to do. God has not left us in ignorance. There are things in our past that we did in our ignorance… God graciously overlooks those things because he has put them on Christ. Christ has taken upon himself our “ignorant times”. As we awaken to the true of who God is we “repent” and turn away from our ignorance and move into our knowledge and relationship with the Lord. There is a fixed day that all will be judged. This is not to create fear in us… but rather joy and anticipation. We have nothing to fear in Christ.

It is time to start living the way you know you should live. The time of ignorance is over. God is speaking to you… through creation… through the tablet of your heart… through the scriptures… through prayer… through fellowship with other believers… and through his Spirit. We can no longer claim ignorance. We should know better. May we begin to live that way. Love you guys. - JDP