God has a problem!
Lots of people say they believe in God, but they don’t really know who He is.
To many children, God is something of a cross between a superhero and a friendly old wizard with a long white beard. Superman meets Dumbledore.
As we grow up, God seems to “graduate” into a watchful headmaster, keeping an eager watch on things like how late we come home or what books we’re reading. Like the headmaster and prefects in Roald Dahl’s memoirs, this God is vicious and a bit too fond of caning.
Then we learn more about the world and are confronted with other philosophies and views, and many of us go through stages where we push Him away, feeling as if we can’t live up to His rules—or as if we’d rather not.
The truth is, if God is keeping score and tallying up our points good and bad, we’re simply not going to come out of it looking very good. Luckily, our God is a loving God, a holy God, a marvelous God who wants to be close to us and show us the way to live eternally with Him: “To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” 1
God doesn’t demand perfection. He never thought that we could be perfect—if He did, He wouldn’t have come to earth to die for us. But He did, and He wants to have a relationship with each of us: “Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” 2
Let’s read on and get to know Him better!