Knowing God
Scripture Reading — Romans 1:18-20
What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
I’m not the smartest person I know. I’m also not the wisest. My children still sometimes say I’m the smartest dad in the world, but now they say it with more love than conviction. I’m fine with that because I want their love, not false beliefs.
God also knows I’m not the smartest person. I am deeply grateful that his love for me is not based on how wise or foolish I am (Romans 1:14). But God does draw some lines that I need to understand.
I don’t know everything there is to know about God, but if I suppress what I do know, or if I don’t take God seriously, or if I live in ways that deny the truth or undermine what God has said is truth, then I will stir up God’s wrath. That’s because truth is important. In fact, Jesus said he is “the way and the truth and the life,” to which he added, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). This means that when we “suppress the truth,” we block our way to God.
God knows the damage that our suppression of the truth can cause; he lost his Son once because of it.
“Smart” is not what God is asking of me; allegiance to the truth is what he demands. It’s the starting place on the track of salvation.
Father God, we know our human nature; we accept the truth we want to hear, and we set aside what we don’t want to hear. Help us in honesty to hear what you say—and to live by it. Through Jesus, Amen.
About the author — Henry Kranenburg
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