From one man he made all the nations, that
they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in
history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps
reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of
your own poets have said, We are his offspring (Acts
17:26-28). (Underlined are quotes from
philosophers.)
God has been
unpacking so many truths from this scripture that I would never be able to
share all that I have been learning in a weekly devotion. This part of Paul’s sermon to the
philosopher’s in Athens was brilliant.
He was able to quote some of the famous thinkers of the day and explain
how they were touching on the reality of God’s love for them.
You will see here
that all the nations are vitally important to God. Never far from His heart are the nations that
completely ignore who He is. He is
constantly stirring in the hearts of Christians, brave soldiers who are willing
to risk their own lives to go to the people God loves. In some of these nations God seems very far
from them. They have never heard of the
teachings of Christ or understood that He is the Son of God who came to the
earth to satisfy the payment for our atrocious sins. All the while they exist everyday on God’s
provisions: the air He gives, the life
He alone created, their very beings are in Christ. They exist never know that they are ever on
the heart of God. Through the graces and
gifts God gives, man can seek Him and reach for Him and find Him! He is
not far from any one of us.
It is a shame
that, though He is not far from any one of us, we are so far from Him. I include myself when I say this. The nearness that God longs for us to become
consciously aware of is intense. Only
few live on earth fully acquainted with His presence in their daily lives. Because we are His offspring and our true
being is from Him, we can experience the nearness of Him every moment in spite
of the haze that often distorts our experience of His nearness.
This earth and our
very beings are receptacles for the touch of God. This scripture makes me think of
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco in Rome. God is actively reaching out to
us; all we need is a little effort on our part, and we can seek, reach and find
the touch of God! He puts Himself within
our reach. The only reason we don’t feel
close to Him is that we do not forcefully seek and reach. Rather our desires are weak and limp.
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