Can We Know God?

I was sitting on my porch this morning doing some reading. When I got tired of reading, I sat there and looked around. The sky was a brilliant blue. The trees looked a deep green against the blues of the sky. It was glorious. There was a slight breeze blowing the warm air around me. I reveled in the wonders of a summer morning. And I asked myself, "Can we truly know God?"

Can we know God on that warm summer morning? As I looked at the sky, could that tell me all about God? Could the wonder of the the tree, that just a few months before was leafless and dead, tell me about God? Could I experience God in the wonder of nature?

And I finally had to say, "No." It is true that I can see God in the wonders of creation. After all, He is the One who created all things (we could easily get sidetracked into the whole creation - evolution debate. We won't. God created the world. It didn't evolve.). He is the One who made it that the tree would die and come to life every year (kinda reminds us of the wonder of the Christian life, the death and life that Paul talks about). But in the end, as I looked at the sky, the tree and felt the breeze, I had to admit, while those things might show me a "higher power," they will not show me the true God.

That is why you find so many world religions. They are trying to find that "higher power." They keep searching. Keep defining. Keep reaching out for something. But they just can't quite find what they are looking for (makes me want to break into a U2 song - "I Still Haven't Found What I am Looking for").

If those don't show us God, then what does? The Word, His Word, the Bible, the Sacred Scriptures that have been passed down through the generations, the Old and New Testament, given to us by those who came before us, shows us God. He is found on the pages of the Bible. He reveals Himself there - for us to know Him as He wishes to be known. (The argument can be laid forward that God is more than is found on the pages of Scripture, and I would agree. Yet that does not negate what He has shown us.)

You want to know God? Turn to the His Word. Open the Bible. Read it. Study it. Make it a part of your life. Where do you begin? I would say to go to the New Testament, open to the book called Mark, and begin there. Spend some time getting to know God there. Then come back and we can talk about where to go from there. Have fun reading - God is waiting for you to get to know Him.