One of my favorite classic Christian quotes is by A. W. Tozer in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy. It’s the opening sentence from the first chapter (“Why We Must Think Rightly About God”), and it sets the tone for the book. I think it also makes an appropriate beginning for this new series of devotionals.
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
Tozer goes on to say this:
Worship is pure or base as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of God.
For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.
As Psalm 115:8 says of idols, “Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” Good or bad, my view of God changes who I am. What a powerful motivation to make sure I think rightly about God!
This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.
– Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)