Scripture: Acts 17:16-23
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an alter with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you (Acts 17:22-23). The people of Athens were very religious; they worshipped anything, even to the extent of dedicating an entire altar to an unknown god. The situation is still the same in our current world: we worship all kinds of gods, but the truth of the matter is that there is only one God – the living God.
It is so easy for people in the church to blame others who worship idols, but being religious is not a substitution for being on the side of the living God. There are several people in the church who may be serving an unknown god. I have always believed in the living God, at least so I thought. I went to church every Sunday and behaved in a manner that was consistent with the norms of the society that I lived, yet I did not truly know God. I saw God as a merciful and loving God who had no desire in punishing anyone no matter what. I often asked the question, “Of what profit would it be to God if He cast all the people who did not know Him into hell fire?” I used to think it would be a loss to God if He did that. I thought I knew Him well enough but it turned out I did not. Even though God is merciful and loving, what I did not know was that the same God that I thought I knew is also a just and Holy God. I knew his word that says His mercy endures forever but ignored his word that says “Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is one of the attributes of the God that I claimed to serve, yet my life was nowhere close to holy. I wanted to serve God and at the same time live my life the way it pleased me. The reality is that no unclean thing can come near God and it is only by the blood of Jesus that we can be saved.
How many people claim that they know God – just like I did – even in the church, yet have not had any encounter with him? We hold malice against other people yet claim to serve the God who despises malice. We live a double life yet claim to serve the God who hates hypocrisy (Matthew 23:27-28). Many more engage in acts of sinful nature yet claim to serve a God who says those who do such cannot inherit His kingdom. What a paradox! This was my situation prior to a day in November of 1993 when I finally surrender to the Lord Jesus and came to the knowledge of the true God. My life has never remained the same since.
My question to you reading this piece is: do you truly know this God? If your life is not in harmony with the attributes of the living God, then you don’t truly know Him. You are serving an unknown god. But if you will surrender totally to Him today you are bound to have an encounter that will forever change your life for good. Here is what you need to do:
Acknowledge that you are a sinner (Romans 3:23)
Confess your sins before God and ask for forgiveness (Romans 10:9)
Start to study the Bible (Ps 119:9, Ps 119:11, Ps 119:105
Walk with Him daily and Fellowship with other believers (Rom 8:1-2)
Let others know about your faith.
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart”, Heb 4:7, Ps 95:7-8.
Don’t miss this opportunity.
