1 Kings 8:27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

Sometimes Solomon got it right. We tend to think in spatial terms, when such vocabulary is totally inadequate to describe the Creator of the universe. Logically, we exist in God’s imagination! God has giv­en us a degree of autonomy, giving us free will and responsibility for what we do with it, and He has placed us in a physical universe that obeys discernable laws of physics. That said, we are constantly discovering more about those laws, and how they don’t always apply in all cases. All of that is beside Solomon’s major point here, which is that God couldn’t possibly be contained in anything we could create, since He made everything to begin with. Some people have grasped that all along. Paul was quoting a Greek poet/philosopher when he said, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) The point is, what do we do about it? As I was quoting Dr. John Kiwiet just last night, if our theology doesn’t affect the way we live, it is meaningless. If we really see God as He is, then we will live in grateful obedience to Him. The problem is that in practical terms, we either imagine God too small, or else forget Him entirely for much of the time. It is only when we live each moment aware of Him that we fulfill our full potential, in every way that can be described.

I was raised with an awareness of God, for which I am deeply grateful, but I can hardly say I have lived each moment of my life in line with that awareness. One of the best things about growing old in the Lord is how that awareness has expanded and deepened, so that it indeed permeates all of my life. That said, it would be very dangerous for me to presume on that, because the devil is always waiting to pounce. I am to be active in my pursuit of God, knowing that He desires fellowship with me even more than I do with Him, and let Him order my days, and my priorities, as He knows best, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your presence and guidance in both services yesterday. Thank You for the good reception I feel I’m getting, despite the small numbers. I pray that everything about today would likewise go as You intend, so that the Body of Christ may be built up, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!