Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 25th, aka National Medal of Honor Day.

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

— Genesis 6:6

In just the third page of the Bible, in Genesis 6:6, it says this:

“The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.”

That might be one of the most surprising verses in the whole Bible.

So what happened before this for the Lord to feel this way?

Genesis 6:5 says,

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

Then Genesis 6:11 says,

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.”

So what was going on inside people wasn’t staying hidden, it was showing up in how they lived and how they treated each other.

So this was a world where people had turned away from God, their thoughts were off, and their actions followed. God created humans for good, and humans weren’t living that way at the time, so of course God would regret it.

It’s like planting a garden expecting it to grow something good, and instead it produces nothing but weeds.

Because of this, Genesis 6:7 says,

“So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created… for I regret that I have made them.’”

But here’s something important: the Lord doesn’t regret the way we regret.

1 Samuel 15:29 says,

“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

And Genesis 6:6 itself says,

“his heart was deeply troubled.”

And Psalm 78:40 says,

“How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland!”

And even the word “regret” doesn’t always mean wanting to undo something. According to Merriam-Webster, regret means “to feel sorrow or remorse about something.”

So when the Bible says the Lord “regretted,” it’s not saying He made a mistake.

It’s showing that He was grieved.

When you’re not sure how to pray, A.C.T.S. gives you a simple path to follow: Adore, Confess, Thank, and Ask.

Adoration: God, You are good and holy.

Confession: I have strayed from what You created me for.

Thanksgiving: Thank You for not giving up on us.

Supplication: Help me live the way You intended.

In Jesus name, Amen

“Walk With Jesus” by Consumed By Fire

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Thanks for letting us be a part of how you start your day with God.

See you tomorrow,

Zach | Start With God