Day 1: Why We Must Think Rightly About God

A.W. Tozer starts his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, with a mic-drop opening line: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” No matter what we say we believe, our actual thoughts about God determine everything — the purity of our worship, the depth of our devotion, the strength of our witness, the stability of our faith, and the trajectory of our spiritual future — both as individuals and as the Church.

When we entertain a low view of God, our religion becomes hollow and spiritless. We open ourselves up to false teaching. We become driven by personal preferences. We craft idols that put self in the place of God and re-imagine God in our own image. And perhaps most tragically, we propagate this false gospel to the next generation.

We desperately need a renewed vision of the majesty of God in our day.

So that’s the simple goal of this 21-day journey through God’s attributes: to see God as He truly is. To uncover our unworthy thoughts about Him and ask the Holy Spirit to renew our minds and give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and soft hearts to respond. To combat lies with truth. To humble ourselves and seek His face like never before.

Throughout the next three weeks, I’d encourage you to make Paul’s Trinitarian prayer from Ephesians 1:17-19 the cry of your heart, both for yourself and for our church: “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.”
Each daily devotion will be based on a chapter from The Knowledge of the Holy, and will include a prayer from A.W. Tozer, as well as a couple questions for prayer and reflection.

Prayer:

O, Lord God Almighty, not the God of the philosophers and the wise but the God of the prophets and apostles; and better than all, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may I express Thee unblamed? They that know Thee not may call upon Thee as other than Thou art, and so worship not Thee but a creature of their own fancy; therefore enlighten our minds that we may know Thee as Thou art, so that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – A.W. Tozer

Response:

In what ways have you had a low view of God? Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart, and spend time searching the Word for truth to help you see God rightly.

According to Tozer, “The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him — and of her.” Do you agree? How would this change the Church, as well as its witness to an unbelieving world?