"For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
Acts 17:23-28
This is part of a speech that Paul gave in Athens, explaining the basic idea of God, since they had other interpretations of the word and idea. And, you know, even though I think we have a better idea now than they did then, because the gospel is better known and some of the fundamental ideas that Christ taught are commonly known, I think we still get it wrong sometimes. And even when we intellectually know, I don't think we feel the weight of it, or always take it seriously.
God made the world and everything in it. Just that one thing is so huge that I don't think that we can fathom it. We pit our wills against his and play silly games, and make silly arguments because we don't really feel the impact of that one fact. Our sense of being misunderstood might be perfectly valid when it applies to other people, but it can never be when applied to God. He gets us, he knows us... he *made* us, and all we are is part of him.
I really like the "hath made of one blood all nations." We don't often act like the people in other places are family, but they are, and life will be so much better for us if we realize that, and act on it. Today, let's work on that. Let's remember that everything that we see is here because of him, and that he understands vastly more than we ever will in this life. This helps a lot when we are getting ready to argue with him. Stopping to think about his perfection and vast intellectual superiority might help us to be humble enough to consider a different solution or path. :) And lastly, let's remember that we are his offspring... that all of this he has done for us. Let's be grateful and take advantage of the great opportunities that he has provided for us to seek, feel after, and find God, as well as learning more about ourselves and this world. Let's realize how close God is rather than treating him like a stranger.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
Acts 17:23-28
This is part of a speech that Paul gave in Athens, explaining the basic idea of God, since they had other interpretations of the word and idea. And, you know, even though I think we have a better idea now than they did then, because the gospel is better known and some of the fundamental ideas that Christ taught are commonly known, I think we still get it wrong sometimes. And even when we intellectually know, I don't think we feel the weight of it, or always take it seriously.
I really like the "hath made of one blood all nations." We don't often act like the people in other places are family, but they are, and life will be so much better for us if we realize that, and act on it. Today, let's work on that. Let's remember that everything that we see is here because of him, and that he understands vastly more than we ever will in this life. This helps a lot when we are getting ready to argue with him. Stopping to think about his perfection and vast intellectual superiority might help us to be humble enough to consider a different solution or path. :) And lastly, let's remember that we are his offspring... that all of this he has done for us. Let's be grateful and take advantage of the great opportunities that he has provided for us to seek, feel after, and find God, as well as learning more about ourselves and this world. Let's realize how close God is rather than treating him like a stranger.
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