Knowing God

"On January 7, 1855, the minister of New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, England, opened his morning sermon as follows:

No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God... but while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe... The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ, and Him Crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of a man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity."

Though Charles Spurgeon spoke these words over a century ago, they still hold true to this day. They lead me to question myself: why do I continue to think that I know God already? Why does Knowing God seem boring to me? So often I make conscious decisions to not know God. I tell myself that it is not practical, or I will not be able to understand. Besides what's really the benefit anyways? J.I Packer offers this advice:

"It is the most practical project anyone can engage in. Knowing God is crucially important for the living of our lives. As it would be cruel to an Amazonian tribesman to fly him to London, put him down without explanation in Trafalgar Square and leave him, as one who knew nothing of English or England, to fend for himself, so we are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it... Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded."

Every morning that I wake and choose not to read my Bible or devote myself to prayer is also a decision to walk out my day with a spiritual blindfold wrapped around my heart. How dangerous and foolish of me! Knowing God is not only a worthy subject but it is an essential one for the Christian, and no one believed this more strongly than Spurgeon, who wrote some of the most enlightening and encouraging words that I have ever read.

"And, Whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this morning."

I believe that Spurgeon's invitation stems not only from himself but from God as well. "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37), "Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls" (Jer 6:16). Gods invitation to know Himself is open to all, the question is whether or not we will accept it and allow Him to lead us into to the riches of intimacy with God.

-Kyle-