Romans 1:21-23

Passage

Rather, after knowing God they neither honored Him as God nor gave thanks.  They became useless in their thorough reasoning and their senseless hearts were unable to perceive.  While asserting to be wise they were becoming foolish and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of mortal men and four-footed animals and reptiles.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Here Paul gives us the source of human corruption.  We know that God has desired relationship with humanity since He brought the world into existence.  It is not Him who has turned away from us!  It is we who turn away from Him.  We are not satisfied with His vision.  We are not satisfied with His presence in our life.  We are not satisfied with His invisible and immortal qualities.  So we turn aside to other things.  We stop giving thanks.  We stop honoring Him as God.  Our vision is cast upon other things.  Our focus goes elsewhere.  This is the fundamental problem with all of humanity.

How does your vision stray from God?  Where are you unsatisfied with God’s presence in your life?  Where have you failed to honor Him and give Him thanks?

Second Thought:

As human beings become unsatisfied with how God reveals Himself to us, we turn to other things.  Ancient people turned to gods.  The Egyptians made gods out of all sorts of animals, and this is likely the nation that Paul is thinking about as he writes these words.  However, the Egyptians are not the only culture to lift up animals as gods.  In more modern contexts, we no longer lift up animals.  We lift up one another as gods in our lives.  We lift up ideas and ideals as gods.  We lift up goals as gods.  We lift up possessions and money as gods.  Whereas ancient people replaced God with things they could see, modern people are great at replacing an invisible God with equally intangible substitute gods.

What gods do you follow in your life besides the one God?  How does your pursuit of these false gods interfere with your pursuit of God?

Third Thought:

Paul also tells us the natural result of pursuing things other than God.  When we take our eyes away from God, what should be thorough reasoning turns into futile thinking.  When our focus is elsewhere, we become unable to perceive.  We think we become so wise, yet when our heart and our eyes are away from God we simply become the fool.

Where are you foolish in your life?  How might looking at areas of foolishness in your life help you to discern the areas where you are not focused upon God?  How can you become focused upon God in these areas?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 1:24-25