Who's Your Daddy?

Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.” [Isaiah 1.3]

Knowing God, or, the knowledge of God remains a shortcoming of people today.

The Apostle Paul recognized the same problem in his time:

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. [2 Corinthians 10.5]

And, in the context of the statement above, Paul gave us a clear definition of where rebellious thoughts, or every "proud obstacle" come from: human reasoning (ie. false arguments):

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. [ 2 Corinthians 10.4]

The devices of man - his intellect and ingenuity - are gifts from God, but they are not God. The danger of man's intellect and ingenuity is that if they are not first and foremost submitted to the First Commandment, then they inadvertently and proudly exalt themselves as gods:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.2-3]

It comes down to knowing Who our Father is and what His requirements are. He IS Supreme God and He requires undivided allegiance. Any dilution of this understanding and requirement is unacceptable. But that is precisely what human reasoning brings in the form of false arguments. What is true to the human intellect is a false argument compared to Almighty God.

Any time we say, "We know God is our [any attribute God claims for Himself], BUT He gave us [any accomplishment of humans intellect] to meet our need..." then we have inadvertently elevated that accomplishment of human intellect above God - made a god of it - and violated the First Commandment. This was Israel's story all through the Old Testament and it sadly remains the story of so many who claim to follow God today.

It was not human intellect that parted the Red Sea.

In this current age of knowledge, the very idea of devotion of God is subject to human reasoning: "It's great to claim "faith" but don't foolishly act upon it. Besides, God gave us a brain, right?" We are encouraged on every turn to have faith as if it is some dormant internal pacifier, but immediately discouraged for actually acting upon it.

"Of course, God is Healer, but you better get to the doctor!"

Question: do we actually know God? Isaiah said God's people do not recognize His care for them.

Here is a hypothetical situation we should consider. Let's say something "hurts" in our body. God said He is Healer. What do we do? WE GO TO THE DOCTOR! And, we are not satisfied until we get a diagnosis from that doctor! And then, we hypocritically run back to God begging for healing while we drain (and often eliminate) financial resources paying for medical treatment! Does something not seem just a little out of place in this scenario if God our Healer is also God our Provider?

You know what modern investigators do in criminal cases? They follow the money. Where the money goes is most often where the problem lies.

Why, if we acknowledge God as Healer, do we run to medicine for the diagnosis, then cry out to God to heal it?

I will tell you why we are so fickle in our faith: because we do not truly know God.

In fact, we are only faithful until the pain is more than we can bear. Yes, when God "fails" we turn to what we know will fix us (or at least provide the best fix available at the time) - we go to the doctor.

I apologize to any doctor who might read this. I harbor no angst against the medical profession... unless of course that profession denies Almighty God as Who He says He Is!

Do we recognize our Father's care? If we do, what does that REALLY look like in a world brimming with knowledge and technology? How do we assure ourselves and those who see us that we have no other god but the LORD? Do we just "tell" them or do we "show" them?

As Isaiah said, we recognize the one who cares for us. Our recognition of who cares for us is seen in who we go to for that care. The ox and the donkey will physically go to and follow their master.

Father, You are my God. You are everything You said You Are. I want to go to You for my own satisfaction of knowing Who You Are, and for the satisfaction of all who see me to know Who You Are.