Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Monday, March 6, 2017
Listen to “Thoughts in Worship 03.06.2017” on Spreaker.
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands…” (Acts 17:24).
Will theTrue and living God please stand up?
Often people get a misconception about “God” when He is reduced to whatever we feel He should be. For instance, I was having a conversation with a new friend whose regular practice is to “meditate.”
Great start, right? I asked him to describe this due to the context of our conversation. He and his training mates enter their designated space and quiet their minds, empty their minds, and focus on their breathing. My new friend has recently chosen to join the Christian faith. I told him we meditate differently. Biblical meditation has a higher focus. He interrupted and said, “God, right?” I said, “Well, yes, but it’s more detailed than that.”
Communion With The God of Creation
To simply say you are meditating upon God is so general and leaves us open to too many wild, spiritual problems. To make a long story short, I told Him that we direct our focus upon the Word of God like David described here: “Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:1–2).
Our focus in meditation is God, to be sure, but His Word clarifies our focus. Instead of emptying our minds, which leaves the mind open to deception, Christians fill our minds with the holy Word as the God of creation draws our attention into communion with Him. Upon His Word do we meditate.
Did you notice what happened here? I identified the one whom King David referenced, which is the same God of our theme text—the One who made the world and all that is therein. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the One who cannot be contained by a temple. He is the One who loves us and gave us life through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is the only true and living God.
Submitting To The Living God
So many times we worship gods of our own devising. Some worship the god of pride. Some worship the god of self-pleasing. Some worship the gods of fighting arts. Some worship the gods of lust, overwork, and intemperance. But when the true and living God comes into our lives, if we submit to Him, we become His dwelling place and we focus our lives and thoughts upon Him. The Bible says, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
I am so glad God gives us the privilege to speak to Him in prayer and hear from Him in His Word. Let the true and living God stand up in your life, and you will not regret it.
