“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” This quote by A.W. Tozer is true because our understanding of God and our response to him shapes our actions and character and determines how well we know and trust him. Even people who say there is no God will put something in his place—something that governs their thinking and decisions. But most importantly, our understanding of God and our response to him will determine our eternal destiny.
Understanding who God is is something every person should spend time clarifying. For the Christian, knowing God is the highest aim. Whether we have memorized all the catechism questions or have even read through Stephen Charnock’s massive work, The Existence and Attributes of God, there is still more to ponder. There is also a continuing need to keep God before our eyes—there is the need to continually be humbled by his greatness and be moved to worship by his splendor.
Our need to keep our God before our eyes is why I am grateful for the second book in the Words to the Wise series, Understanding and Trusting Our Great God. Tim Challies has gathered inspiring quotes from great minds such as Jonathan Edwards, A.W. Pink, Jerry Bridges, R.C. Sproul, and Joni Eareckson Tada and arranged them systematically to help us consider our God. Jules Koblun uses her gift to display these words of wisdom beautifully. Each page spread includes a graphically highlighted quote and a short meditation by Tim in which he highlights its truth.
After a short introduction, the book begins with God’s existence and then moves through six of his attributes—his wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truthfulness. What I love about this series is it can be read as a daily devotion because each quote and meditation can stand alone, or you can read it straight through as each thought builds upon the other in an accessible approach to theology proper.
There is only one God—the God who has revealed himself to us in the pages of Scripture. If Tozer’s quote above is accurate, and I believe it is, any false notion of God we hold to be true diminishes us and leads us down wrong paths. Nothing produces more joy and satisfaction than knowing God, so it would do well for us to keep him continually before our eyes. Tim and Jules have set out to help us do that, and it is worth our time.
-D. Eaton
The Fight of Faith 