More than a generation ago, A. W. Tozer wrote;
“What comes into our minds when we think
about God is the most important thing about us.”
If that statement were true and worthy of consideration in Tozer’s time, it is more than true today and even more worthy of consideration today. What people think of and about God has undeniable and consequential ramifications. People live out their various thoughts, philosophies and opinions about God in their everyday life. Knowing and understanding God therefore is not to be relegated merely to theological or theoretical musings. The knowledge of God and the understanding of God is very practical to every area of our lives.
It is of great importance what you conceive God to be in your heart. Tozer also wrote:
“A god begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart will
quite naturally be no true likeness of the true God.”
Psalms 50:21 says in part, “…you thought that I {Or that the I AM} was one like yourself.” (ESV) We have the tendency due to our fallen nature to conceive of a god in our own heart that we can, both love and feel comfortable with.
This must grieve our God tremendously. He alone is unique in every area of His being. He alone is the sole epitome of majesty, splendor, glory, and beauty. He is the very essence of holiness, exercising every aspect of this character and nature in perfect holiness. Yet, we so easily degrade and belittle Him with our humanistic imaginations of what we want Him to be to us or for us.
It is imperative for the honor and sake of God that we develop right thinking about Him. He is worthy of right thoughts. We are in desperate need of right thoughts so that we might honor Him, serve Him, enjoy Him, and share Him with those who yet have been instructed in the ways of thinking right thoughts about God.
4 comments:
This is a good post on a big topic. Knowing God is a lifetime of study, meditation, and prayer and even then we cannot completely know God. But it grieves me when people don't know the important aspects of God or deny His existence completely. A lifetime of studying the arguments to refute God's existence seems so absolutely pointless and absusrd.
Lee
As a relatively new Christian, I struggle with the concept of knowing God. I keep re reading passages from the Bible that point to how to understand (know) God. The gospel according to John is most helpful to me. The Old Testament does not show a very loving God, although I read it to get a rounding of perspective. Good post and good questions!
Yes this is true!! Great topic and great point! Stay blessed!
Knowing God is something not desired it seems by many in the professing church world of today. It saddens the true child of God to see so much lukewarmness around, and if it saddens us, you know it must grieve the Holy Ghost. Tozer was a great man of God, I'm currently reading his book "The Mystery of the Holy Spirit". Great post, I'm going to follow this blog.
http://afteraltar.blogspot.com
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