“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and bring you back from captivity”.
Jeremiah 29:13-14
Athens! This side of the world is full of so much history, but my favorite piece of history is that the Apostle Paul travelled here on his mission journeys to share the Good News that forgiveness and eternal life are available to all people through faith in Christ. There are no cultural barriers to grace, no racial barriers for mercy, and no sin that is so bad it cannot be forgiven. In fact, Paul is the epitome of that! He had been a really bad dude – murdering and persecuting Christians because they believed the very thing he was now preaching. (If you haven’t read about Paul’s encounter with the One true God, you can read it in Acts 8,9 and 22).
It was here in Athens when he had the opportunity to bring truth to the people about their altar that was inscribed with “To an Unknown God”, (Acts 17:22-23). Paul had lived a life of doing what he thought was right in the name of God, but the God he was doing it for was unknown to Him at the time, so his actions to receive blessings from God didn’t reflect the real good, but rather evil in the name of good. He had been religious, just as the people of Athens had been, but until He met and got to know the unknown God on the road to Damascus, His religious practices were based on hatred instead of love and judgement instead of mercy and grace.
Paul had criticized, mocked, made fun of, and even killed those who believed in the resurrection of Jesus until He was confronted by Jesus Himself in a supernatural and powerful way! And His response was a changed life that passionately honored, served, and glorified God.
Read Paul’s story and reflect on your own spiritual journey. Do you believe that “God’s purpose was for the nations to seek after Him and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him – even though He seems far away” (Acts 17:27)? Do you believe that you can have a personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit, “in whom you live, move, and exist” (Acts 17:28)?
Will you seek Him for a deeper and richer relationship?
