Daily Devotionals

'Every Day Light' with Selwyn Hughes

Devotional: February 6th

For Reading and Meditation:
     Jeremiah 9:17-24

Let';s review what we have said about God's character. We began by recognizing that in today's Church we seem more interested in knowing about ourselves than in knowing God. The result of being more man-centered than God-centered is increased anxiety, depression, and a hundred other ills. Quietly we have worked through the Scriptures and have seen that the God who is "there" for us to know is the God who has revealed Himself in many different ways: as powerful, personal, plural, having holy love, a God of wrath, trustworthy, gracious, all-knowing and all-wise. It's interesting isn't it, as our passage for today shows, that when the Lord talks about Himself in the Scriptures it is usually in terms of His attributes or character traits: kindness, justice, righteousness, and so on. And there is a clear and definite purpose in this: the more we know of God the more established our lives will be here on the earth. I myself am convinced that there is nothing more important than knowing God through contemplation of Him. And it must be understood that the knowledge I am talking about is not mere intellectual knowledge. The knowledge of God that comes through contemplation of Him is the ability to see life from His perspective, through His eyes. It means to look out at life's circumstances through the lens of faith, bearing in mind God's plan, to accept that whatever is happening is allowed by God and that everything comes under His personal surveillance. That kind of God-understanding and God-awareness is our only hope for coping with twentieth-century problems.

Father, I am convinced. I see that if I am to operate in a context of confidence I can only do so as I look out at life through Your eyes. Help me to do more than glance at You occasionally. Help me to gaze on You continually. Amen.