The Book of Acts: Turn Your World Upside DownSample

Today’s Devotional:

Do you know about God, or do you know God?

In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul addresses the people of Athens by saying, “I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you” (Verses 22-23).

Paul goes on to explain that we are God’s offspring. This was a foreign concept in a culture where gods took the form of statues and idols. Offspring is a relational term, a family term. Paul introduces the people of Athens to the “unknown god” and tells them He wants to be known.

If you’ve struggled to feel or hear God, don’t buy into the myth that He is unapproachable or far off. He is not a mysterious force or an impersonal idol, nor is He a religious box to check on Sundays. He wants to know and be known—and He wove the same desire into your DNA as a relational being. He’s not only powerful—He’s personal. God is love (1 John 4:6)—and love doesn’t exist without a relationship.

The language of relationship permeates Scripture, such as the nature of the Trinity or Jesus teaching us to pray to “Our Father…”. In Bilquis Sheikh’s memoir about her conversion from Islam to Christianity called I Dared Call Him Father, she shares her experience trying to relate to God as a father, “No Muslim, I felt certain, ever thought of Allah as his father. Since childhood, I had been told that the surest way to know about Allah was to pray five times a day and study and think on the Quran. Yet, Dr. Santiago’s words came to me again, ‘Talk to God. Talk to Him as if He were your Father.’ Alone in my room, I got on my knees and tried to call Him ‘Father.’ It was a useless effort, and I straightened in dismay. It was ridiculous. Wouldn’t it be sinful to bring the great one down to our level?”

Bilquis followed the advice of a Christian (Dr. Santiago) and tried approaching God as her Father again the next day. Soon she entered into a sweet and transformative relationship with her Father in Heaven and God’s Word, the Bible. She went on to risk her life to become an evangelist and missionary. Her previous image of God could only be known about but not known. Why is it important to remember that God is relational? Because if we forget, we settle for religion. Today, as you enter your time with God, don’t go through the motions. Don’t take for granted that you serve a God who wants a relationship with you.

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Today’s devotional was written by Melissa Miller.

Questions to Consider:

• When it comes to God, have you settled for religion or entered a relationship?
• In what ways have you been going through the motions in your faith? How can you reignite your relationship with God?

Prayer:

God, thank you that you are a relational God. Help me not to take that for granted. I pray that I will not go through the motions in my faith but seek you as a Father and a friend. In Jesus’ name, amen.