Grow: God Came Near

Read Colossians 1:15-20

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Reflect

· Do I have a wrong or incomplete perception of who God is?

· Am I trying to define God in a way that's comfortable for me?

· How can I grow to appreciate the bigness of God without manipulating Him into something else?

Sometimes in our efforts to grow in our relationship with God, we end up diminishing Him. We try to contain God, to define Him in such a way that our limited human perceptions can understand Him. Yet when we try to squeeze God into a limited human definition, we miss the very essence of God as the Creator, Overseer and Sustainer of all things seen and unseen in Heaven and here on Earth. God is big, yes. God is, in some ways, incomprehensible. But rather than overwhelm us or distance us from Him, that knowledge should inspire awe and reverence for God as the One who holds all things together, now and forever.

In Revelation 1:8, God declares, "I'm A to Z. I'm The God Who Is, The God Who Was, and The God About to Arrive" (The Message). In many ways, our linear minds cannot comprehend a Being who is concurrently now, in the past and in the future. It doesn't make sense; it doesn't compute. But that's the very essence of God: He traverses all eternity; nothing, absolutely nothing, is possible without God. We're not supposed to "get" that entirely, because we're not God.

Pray

Lord, I don't want to box You in to a definition that's comfortable for me. Help me approach You with awe and reverence and know that it's okay not to understand all Your ways. Amen.