In the opening words to The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer said, “What you think about God is the most important thing about you.” Let me repeat that since it is such a dogmatic statement.
“What you think about God is the most important thing about you.”
Do you consider Him a Santa Claus or Genie figure who grants your every wish? Listen to my prayers sometimes and that's the picture you might paint of the God I believe in. It's truer more often than I care to admit.
Do you view Him as someone who set the world in motion and occasionally looks down on His creation to see what its up to? Again, listen to the lack of intensity and fervor in my prayers, and this is the kind of God you might envision.
Perhaps you view Him as a kindly old grandfather, you know, the kind where you speak a little louder in his presence and say nice things when you're around him?
And what about the idea of a heavenly father. What kinds of images does that bring to your mind? I daresay that any number reading this have distorted images of what an earthly father should really be like, myself included. When we transfer that image to our Heavenly Father, it's not pretty, and often it's downright ugly. Maybe that's occasionally what you think about God. You don't like it, but you find yourself wandering in that direction.
Do you see Him as an all knowing, all powerful, ever present God who delights in His children? Were that all my prayers and petitions were like this. The world would be a different place. I would be a different person.
Do you trust Him with the little things in your life? Do you, as Peter says, hurl those cares into His lap for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)?
Perhaps the more basic question is, do you trust Him. What would our lives look like if we didn't trust Him? Would we notice a difference if we didn't pray at all? Would we notice a difference if we prayed more?
When I was a children's church worker in Alaska, the chorus to my favorite song was this:
My God is so Big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do.
Simple words, strong message, childlike faith. Do we believe it? And if we believe it, what does that look like in our everyday actions?
So I return to the first statement, “What you think about God is the most important thing about you.” Now, I ask you. What do you think about God?
