Acts 17:24-25 -- On God as Creator

"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;"
Acts 17:24-25


I like this teaching moment as Paul talks to the men of Athens, letting them (and all of us) know that God isn't just like everyone else. He is the creator and sustainer... of us, of everything. And although we symbolically build God temples, he isn't an idol or something that can be contained in man-made things. His home is in heaven (Acts 7:48-50).

These are things we likely already know, but that might also be worth pondering today, because we too often think of God as not-God, mentally assigning him characteristics in our heads that he doesn't have, like fallibility, short-sightedness, senility, or even manipulability. All the things that he asks of us aren't things that he needs or that sustain him... they are for our benefit. Let's try taking some time to imagine God as all-powerful and all-wise creator before we pray. It might help remind us that he has reasons for everything, and that we need to learn an awful lot more from God before we can understand (let alone criticize) him, or even the smallest details of his plan.