Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Church: A Community called to proclaim the Gospel

Acts 17:22-31

v22-23 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People 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 altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
 

In this chapter of Acts, Paul is going through Athens, talking with both Jews and Gentiles, when he meets a group of Epicureans and Stoic philosophers with whom he debates. They hear him speaking about Jesus and the resurrection, and therefore decide to bring him to the Areopagus. The Areopagus likely means “hill of Ares”, named after the Greek god of war. However, the group that met there did not necessarily worship just Ares, but instead are described as a curious bunch, always interested to hear about new foreign gods. They even had an altar with the inscription “to an unknown god.”
Often, we are like this group at the Areopagus. We lead our lives praying to a God we do not recognize. We might be filling our lives with novelty, looking for the next new thing that will amuse us. But we should work on figuring out who this “unknown god” is. He is not unknown. He is not a god made of stone or metal. He is known to be the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things, not made by human hands. So let us strive as this new year begins to seek after God – and if He is unknown to us, let us try to learn just a little bit more about Him.

 
PRAYER
Dear Father, Help us to know you, to remember that you have created the heavens and all the worlds, that you do not live in temples or churches, but live in us. Help us to seek after you, to learn more about you each day. Amen
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
– Dr. Seuss

Shanu George, St. John’s MTC , New York
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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