While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. (Acts 17:16 NIV)
The Apostle was not in awe with the beauty of the Parthenon; he was distressed with the people’s idolatry.
Some of us have been to parts of the world where there are beautiful minarets, Shinto gates and shrines, and beautifully carved statues housed in ornate temples. Do we think like the Apostle? If not, is it because he saw things as God sees them and we see them like the rest of mankind? May God help us to be distressed with the worship of false gods.
“In vain with lavish kindness
the gifts of God are strown
The heathen in his blindness
bows down to wood and stone.”
---Reginald Heber, 1783-1826
(An excerpt from On Being a Christian by Jim Wilson)
The Apostle was not in awe with the beauty of the Parthenon; he was distressed with the people’s idolatry.
Some of us have been to parts of the world where there are beautiful minarets, Shinto gates and shrines, and beautifully carved statues housed in ornate temples. Do we think like the Apostle? If not, is it because he saw things as God sees them and we see them like the rest of mankind? May God help us to be distressed with the worship of false gods.
“In vain with lavish kindness
the gifts of God are strown
The heathen in his blindness
bows down to wood and stone.”
---Reginald Heber, 1783-1826
(An excerpt from On Being a Christian by Jim Wilson)
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