Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of LifeSample

In this life there are many important things to know, but nothing is more important and life-changing than the knowledge of God.

I remember the wonder in his voice and in his eyes as he told me about his days spent at camp. He had spent a week at a Christian camp where he was encouraged to see God’s created world in new and engaging ways. He had just looked through a microscope at the tiny little creatures that live in a pond. These little creatures were invisible to the eye as he simply stood and looked over the pond. He was amazed that there was a whole world underwater that most of us never even realize exists. That microscope revealed a universe of wonderful and amazing things that you could spend the rest of your life studying and seeking to understand.

Such it is with God’s world. Everywhere you look is another little “universe” of sights, sounds, and beings. The study of each of these little universes could leave you with volumes of knowledge. It can be a bit overwhelming to think that in God’s world, there is no end to knowing. You and I will never know enough; we will never be able to say, “I know everything.” This is why we must understand what is important to know and what is not. You and I have a limited amount of time and limited mental capacity, so what we commit ourselves to know is significant and life-shaping.

This is why it is important to pay careful attention to the words of Exodus 29:45–46: “I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” Not only do these words capture the amazing grace of God’s choosing to dwell among his people, a stunning reality they could never earn or deserve, but they reveal why he chose to do this. When reading these verses, you and I should pause for a moment and consider the significance of the words “And they shall know that I am the Lord their God.” God says, “I am going to dwell with my people so that they will know me.

If God is the Creator of everything that exists, if he is the Lord and Ruler of all that happens, and if he holds his created world together by his powerful hand, then there is nothing more important than to know him. There is no proper knowledge of anything in this world that does not begin with knowing God. But there is more in these verses. God says, “I don’t just want you to know me; I want you to know what I have done for you. I am your Redeemer. I placed my love on you, I redeemed you from slavery, I provided for you, and I have given you my law.”

God has now made us the temple where he dwells so that we would remember his redeeming grace and follow him with joy.

For further study and encouragement: Romans 12:1–2