MEDITATION:
Written by Gary Inrig, a contemporary pastor and Christian author. This is excerpted from his book “The Parables Understanding What Jesus Meant.”
A.W. Tozer begins his masterly study of the character of God, The Knowledge of the Holy, with a provocative sentence: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” For some, such a claim seems to be pious rhetoric, the kind of thing a preacher is expected to say on Sunday morning. The agenda of modern secular man has little place for God. I remember a philosophy student insisting to me that life’s really important questions weren’t about God at all, but to such things as the nuclear issue, environmental crises, economic dislocation, political upheaval, and personal matters of self-worth and personal dignity.
For others, Tozer’s words have a ring of truth. What I think about God is important. In fact, those other questions can only be answered in the light of who He is and what He says. But that creates a dilemma. In the theological cafeteria of the 20th century, which God should I choose? Or should I build my own God a la carte, combining ideas that seem to me to be palatable and appealing? From where do I get my understanding of God? I have no doubt that the Lord Jesus would have agreed with Tozer emphatically. What enters our minds when we think about God really is the most important thing about us. Over and over, Christ sought to scrape away the residue of misinformation and misunderstanding that obstructed people’s view of His Father. But He also makes it clear that knowledge of God is not equivalent to theological orthodoxy, important as that is. The evidence that we know God is not so much our ability to define the divine attributes, as it is our response to people. Right knowledge of God is present when we imitate our Father’s response.
PRAYER:
Written by Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202), Greek bishop noted for his role in expanding and guiding Christian communities in what is now the south of France.
I appeal to you, Lord, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob and Israel, You the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Infinitely merciful as You are, it is Your will that we should learn to know You. You made heaven and earth, You rule supreme over all that is. You are the true, the only God; there is no other god above You. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, grant that all who read what I have written here may know You, because You alone are God; let them draw strength from You; keep them from all teaching that is heretical, irreligious or godless. Amen.
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