Acts 17:27-29 -- On Bringing God into Focus

"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.
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device."
Acts 17:27-29


I like a lot of things that are packed into these verses. Paul and Silas are talking to the Athenians and explaining that God isn't like one of the idols that they worship, and they God's nature as compared to us... we feel after him, we are his offspring. And if we are, then God isn't gold or stone, but more like us (except perfect of course). We live in him, have our being in him, and we feel after him... he gives us life, he has emotion, and he is not far from us. We can find him through prayer. :)

It's a challenge sometimes thinking about God because he is so far beyond us that it is hard to imagine his thoughts or contemplate his power... and yet, he is our Father, and desires to have a personal relationship with us. I think we usually focus too far away from him, thinking of him as totally foreign, or we focus too close, seeing him as fallible and imperfect, just as we are. The challenge is developing a relationship with him and learning more about him so that he comes into focus and we can see his power and his mercy and light, but also realize that we have the potential to be like him (although of course it might take eternities to get to that perfect day). I think that knowledge changes us as we understand not only God better, but also who we are in relation to him and the potential locked inside us all.
Today, let's seek the Lord and work on learning as much as we can so that he comes into focus, and we understand more and move about him, and ourselves.