God vs gods

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

From a human point of view, there have been many cultures and many different ideas across the world about how life came to be and what a god-like creator, protector or saviour might look like. It's still a live modern question - can any or all of these ideas be right?

Today's reading appears to be God's answer to this. Yes, he is real, and offers the evidence of creation itself and of transformed human lives in relationship with him to prove it. So what about other nations' gods? They are dismissed as human inventions which cannot be compared. There is a keen observation of people's tendencies to take on the role of creator and worship created things, rather than recognise and worship the maker of all things, including the heavens, earth and the sources of everything we want to get creative with.

I like that God presents himself clearly in this - if we can accept that he is real, and he gives reasons and ways to do this, we can't also carry around a belief that all gods are equally real. We have to choose - not between gods as much as between God and ourselves as the source of life and good stuff. God is also making it clear that, while he has been close to a people, he is not limited by location or time. He has a long-standing purpose to bring salvation and the chance of right relationship back to all people. This reading isn't the first to point forward to Jesus, and the saviour has now come for us, yet the scope of what God describes sounds like he is pointing to our future and not just our past.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God has a unique view across time, the world and its people, and a commitment to transform human lives by his blessing, provision and presence. God needs us to recognise the difference between this reality and the little gods we create for ourselves.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I'm not in the habit of wood carving, but I do recognise my tendency to get so wrapped up in the things I create that I can forget the most important thing - relationship with the Creator. I want to submit all of this to God and make sure there is nothing I have placed in the way of this relationship.

Who am I going to share this with?

People I pray with this week, and also - where there is an appropriate opportunity - with other creative people I work with.