A Proper View of God

What comes to mind when you think about God? 

In The Knowledge of the Holy, author A.W. Tozer proposes that everyone should answer this question. He stresses the importance of having a right understanding of God. He admits, however, that discovering what we actually believe about God may be a difficult and painful “ordeal of self-probing.”  Have our thoughts about God been influenced by our community, our family, our church, or even our desires? He goes on to say, “It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity.” Has our view of God been elevated in the 60 years since those words were penned? I suspect they have not. 

What comes to my mind when I think about God? 

If I am going through a difficult time, do I think He is faithful?

If I am troubled by the evil in the world, do I think He is just?

If I see someone hurting, do I think He is good? 

If I am tempted by the things of this world, do I think He is holy? Do I even think of Him at all? 

Does my idea of God at any given time reflect the reality of God? Isn’t that the most important question I should ask myself? Don’t I need a proper view of God if I am to worship Him, glorify Him with my life, and share Him with others? In the Garden of Eden, Eve questioned the goodness of God, as well as the truthfulness of God. Imagine if she had a proper view of God. Would she have chosen to sin? What if I had a wholly correct view of God, how different would my life be? 

Isn’t it remarkable that God doesn’t just want us to know things about Himself, but he wants us to truly know Him? He gives us that invitation. This summer I am going to take a journey rediscovering the attributes of the Almighty God. I hope to share from time to time what I have learned. Consider taking this journey with me.  What comes to mind when you think about God? 

“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

    and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Proverbs 9:10