Last night at our small group Bible study we discussed the Ark of the Covenant. Our study leader said it is not available to anyone and began to describe what it looked like. I remarked that God didn’t leave it here because He knew some people would worship it instead of Him. A few chuckled and as the leader continued, I did a quick search on my laptop for images of this Ark. Surprisingly, hundreds of places sell models of the Ark of the Covenant at prices beginning below $100 up to several thousand if you want pure gold. This says something about human idolatry!
Today’s devotional tells of a man with another perspective of God. His life was stressed and his doctor told him he needed fellowship with God. He replied, “What? That—up there—having fellowship with me? I would as soon think of cooling my throat with the Milky Way or shaking hands with the stars.”
It also mentions two other people who said, “Prayer is useless because there’s no one to pray to except that dreaming, dark, dumb thing that turns the handle of this idle show” and “Life is a bad joke . . .Bring down the curtain; the farce is done.”
This is blasphemy but also the deep despair of all who think that God is uninvolved in human affairs. To call Him, “Our Father in heaven” would be a joke in their minds.
Of course, those who do not know God cannot call Him their Father. This distancing from our Creator started in the Garden when Adam and Eve hid themselves and were ashamed of their sin. That sense of shame grew into a great human effort to either wallow in it or overcome it with ‘goodness’ or insisting that a relationship with God is not necessary.
Greek and Roman philosophers rejected God as Father, choose instead to believe that all gods were apathetic and without emotions. Epicurean philosophers believed all so-called gods were calm and in perfect peace, but to maintain their serenity, they needed to stay isolated from people. This reminds me of a billboard advertising a certain Bible school as being located several “miles from sin” — as if we can put distance between ourselves and our human condition.
Scripture reveals God is nothing like the ideas godless people come up with. For those who put their faith in His Son whom He sent to die for our sin, God declares them as His adopted children, His family — and He is our Father who loves and cares for us in significant and even startling ways. He conquer our fears and comforts us in times of distress. He forgive our sins and gives us eternal hope. He provides all resources we need for physical life and for living a godly life, including wisdom and direction as well as enablement. He is always near and speaks to us in intimate fellowship. He even invites us to call Him Abba, the ancient word for ‘Daddy’.
He is our Father in heaven, above the situations and stresses of this life and yet able to take us through it with grace, joy, peace and the assurance of spending eternity with Him where He is — in heaven.
Lord Jesus, because of You I am a child of God. Your Father and my Father are One and we commune together with great and yet often amazed delight. Having a place in this eternal family is a wonder and such a privilege. Thank You for making it possible to know God as Father and to be who I am — His child.
TO THINK ABOUT: Read Exodus 3:1–5 and Isaiah 6:1–5. What attitude should I have when I pray to my Father in heaven? According to Hebrews 4:16, what is there for me at His throne of grace?
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