TWO IMPORTANT THINGS
ROMANS 1:20-21
ROMANS 1:20-21 NKJ
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
OBSERVATION:
We are now moving out of the stories about Jesus, the gospels. And the stories about the early church, the book of Acts.
Romans is considered by many to be Paul's greatest letter to the churches. Some of Christianity's greatest teachings are found in this book. There are very little instructions to the church regarding church problems. Romans is a book of strong theology but also practical wisdom that can be applied.
As we began to read the Epistles, letters from the New Testament writers, do not talk yourself out of a blessing. Don't talk about and expect not to understand what you are reading. Instead, believe that the Holy Spirit can help you, and you'll see truths as you've never seen them before.
In our verses for today, Paul is showing that creation witnesses of the reality of God. God's invisible attributes are seen.
The next verse shows a fatal flaw of many. Even though creation shouts "there is a God," many do not glorify Him as God. Nor are they thankful. Those two things are very important. To glorify God as God. To acknowledge Him as the Creator of heaven and earth. Even though we can not see God, we see His works, and we glorify, praise, respect, and honor Him.
The second important thing is to be thankful to God. Thankful that He has made us. That we are His children. That He is our Great Father, the source of our life and breath.
The people who did not do this had their hearts and thoughts darkened. Instead of becoming closer to the truth, they moved further away.
APPLICATION
In seeing what happened to people who did not glorify and thank God, we can learn.
We learn that glorifying God as God and staying thankful to Him is the way to keep our hearts open and our thoughts on the right track. Faith says we come to God by believing that He is, that He exists. And because we believe we are thankful. Simply doing these two important things will make a difference in our lives.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I glorify You as God and as the Creator of heaven and earth. Thank You for loving me and caring for me. I am grateful.