One of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite stories was about a horse
that was about sold at the cross-roads near where he once lived. He told it as follows:
The
horse was supposed to be fast, and quite a number of people were present at the
time appointed for the sale. A small boy
was employed to ride the horse backward and forward to exhibit his points. One of the would-be buyers followed the boy
down the road and asked him confidentially if the horse had a splint. "Well, mister," said the boy,
"if it's good for him he has got it, but if it isn't good for him he
hasn't.
I wonder if a lot of
people take that same approach to serving the Lord. They feel like they are doing
what God wants even if they don’t know exactly what that is.
The people of Athens
were like that. They made an idol to an unknown God, assuming that any god
would want an idol. The true God, He doesn’t.
Paul attempted to help them overcome their ignorant worship with the
facts about who God really is and what he wants from man. Some folks listened,
some folks were happy in their ignorance.
But let’s consider what Paul had to say to them:
"Therefore
having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all
people everywhere should repent,
Acts
17:30
Ignorance isn’t the
solution. God has shown us who he is and what he wants. Assuming what we offer
is good for him if it’s good for us isn’t the approach we should have to the
Creator of the universe.
Are we ignoring God by our ignorance? Are we
sure we are pleasing Him or are we just assuming what we got is what He wants?
Are we conforming to Him or attempting to make Him in our image?
Do we know or do we just think we do?
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