For Reading and Meditation:
Genesis 1:1-12
We focus on what without doubt is the most noble and loftiest of themes - the nature and character of God. I have noticed that Christians, generally speaking, seem to be preoccupied with knowing more about themselves rather than knowing more about God. Ask any Christian bookshop manager: "What are the best-selling books?" Not those that unfold for us the nature of God, but those that direct us toward such things as how to get a better self-image, how to manage money, how to find inner healing, how to get more excitement out of life, and so on. Not that these subjects are unimportant, but they are explored in a self-absorbed way that gives the idea that the most important thing in life is knowing ourselves better. It isn't. The most important thing in life is knowing God better. John Lancaster, a minister in Cardiff, South Wales, in an article entitled "Where on earth is God?" asks the question: "Given a choice between attending a seminar, say, on the 'Glory of God in Isaiah' and one on 'The Christian and Sex,' to which would you go?" He makes the point also that though the Church often answers the questions that people are asking, the real problem may be that people are not asking the right questions. In today's Church we are far too man-centered, and not God-centered. It is not by accident, I believe, that the Bible opens with the thunderous acclaim: "In the beginning God –" I tell you with all the conviction of which I am capable - if God is not our primary focus, then everything else will soon get out of focus.
O Father, from this day help me determine to make You my primary focus. And give me the grace and strength to maintain it, through all the vicissitudes and uncertainties of the days ahead. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.