Not to know God is to misknow him. For every man must have his idea of God; and unless he had been taught by God's own revelation, it is a false idea, for no man ever guessed what God is or reasoned him out. "The world by its wisdom knew not God." But to have a false conception of God means to be in a wrong attitude toward him. For consciously or unconsciously we assume an attitude toward every person according to our notion of his character. So to have a wrong notion of God's character means necessarily that we are wrong in our attitude toward him. But to be wrong with God is to be wrong with self and with life and with everything in the world. The harsh, bitter man is all out of joint and gearing with everybody and everything. But it will be found that he has a harsh, bitter god. The lax and frivolous man's god is not holy. The anxious, worrying man may have a Creator, a judge, a Lawgiver, but he has no Father in heaven. Thus what we think of God affects our whole life. To know him aright means to love him, to trust him, to obey him, to find happiness, peace, and joy in his love and power and fatherly care. For "this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ." Let us know--let us "follow on to know Jehovah" (Hos. 6:3).

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