2 Samuel 22:26-27 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

It’s no wonder we have so many conceptions of God! To this extent it is indeed true that we “create God in our image,” as atheists accuse believers of doing. However, they don’t realize that they are doing the very same thing. God being infinite, we cannot grasp Him in His entirety, but we perceive of Him that which our hearts are prepared to accept. Conversely, we project onto Him what we see in ourselves, whether it is accurate or not. Thinking about that can explain a lot of things about human religions! That’s a major reason God chose to send Himself, in the Person of His Son, to this earth. The religious leaders of the day didn’t accept Him because He didn’t match their preconceptions, but the resulting conflict revealed much more of His character than if they had. The challenge to people today, both those who claim Christianity and those who don’t, is to read the Bible and accept the God who is depicted there, allowing the Word to change their conceptions rather than rewriting the Bible to match how they think it should be.

I am open to the accusation that I do no better than anyone else in my understanding of God, for the reasons I’ve just stated. However, I do have the advantage of starting from a Biblical base, given my family background, and I have certainly experienced a great deal of God in various ways in the years since I started following Him. I am very aware of the truth of C. S. Lewis’ statement that when we get to heaven, even those who get there will all discover they were wrong somewhere in their understanding of God. I am to walk in humility, without letting go of the assurance I have been given in what I believe. In dealing with others, I am to let love rather than intellect, much less dogma, be my guide and my strength. Writing that, I realize it is very Biblical, because the Bible speaks many times of God being our strength and our guide, and John famously says that He is love. (1 John 4:8) Only when I operate in love will people get an accurate conception of God by watching me.

Father, thank You for the privilege of being Your agent in so many ways. You know better than I do that I can’t possibly do it on my own. Help me stay connected to You at all times, growing in fellowship and allowing Your Spirit to fill and flow through me more and more, so that people may indeed look at me and see Christ, and repent and believe, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!