Get Acquainted with God
By G. W. White
ACQUAINT now thyself with God." Job 22: 21, margin. Get acquainted with God. That is the thought. Know Him; know His power, His love, His way and will concerning you. Why Get Acquainted with God?
Because to do so is the highest privilege extended to mortals in this life. It is the end of all true living; yea, it is life itself. Hear the words of Him who knows all about it: "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17: 3. When Get Acquainted with God?
"Acquaint now thyself with God." The other day I saw hanging over a business man's desk this motto: "Do it now." Yes, do it now. Now is ours; to-morrow belongs to God, and we know not what a day may bring forth. To-morrow may be too late. O, the Gospel ring there is in that word "now"! Satan says, "Not now—some other time—some more convenient season—to-morrow." But God says now—to-day—this very hour—now. "To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Heb. 4: 7. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6: 2. How May I Get Acquainted with God?
There is a systematic way. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord." Isa. 55: 7. Forsake your way. For your ways are not My ways, saith the Lord. Jesus said, "I am the Way." John 14: 6. "Put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles," and "return to the Almighty" (Job 22: 22, 23), and by faith take Christ, God's Way, and He will introduce you to the Father. Another thought: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it can not save; neither His ear heavy, that it can not hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you, that He will not hear." Isa. 59: 1, 2. Your iniquities have formed a barrier between Him and you that has kept you a stranger to Him. Put those sins away. A difficult task, you say. A most painful task. Yes; but put them away if it costs your life. "If thy right eye do cause thee to offend, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand do cause thee to offend, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Matt. 5: 29, 30. Make thoro work of it, brother, sister. We are on the verge of eternity, and have no time for careless, slipshod work. An acquaintance with God will teach you that8your temptations are such as are "common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able." 1 Cor. 10: 13. Nothing but the most thorough work will avail, and bring us into that close, intimate relationship with God that our hearts long for. When once you know Him, you will care to glory in nothing else than that knowledge. "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth." Jer. 9: 23, 24. Note Some Results of This Acquaintance and Some Inducements Given Us
"Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace." Job 22: 21. And Peter in his salutation says, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1: 2. "For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty." Job 22: 26. Ah, there is such a thing as a really joyous, delightful, happy life in the service of God. "Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isa. 58: 14. "For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God." Job 22: 26. In our sins we can not look God in the face. Daniel said, "O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion of faces." Dan. 9: 7. "Confusion of faces!" Have you ever noticed a child overtaken in a conscious sin, how confused it was, how the face flushed, and every act was covered with confusion? Well, "unto us belongeth confusion of faces," because He who never slumbers nor sleeps sees every sin. But once acquainted with Him, with the sins all forgiven—then shalt thou "lift up thy face unto God," and when Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, when those who know not God are calling for the mountains and rocks to fall upon them to hide them from His face, you will be among those who will lift up their faces to God and say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25: 9. "If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up." Job 22: 23. Ah, you thought if you gave your heart and life to the service of God, everything would be a failure, didn't you? People sometimes say, I would like to be a Christian—to serve God and keep all His commandments; but if I did, and especially if I undertook to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment, I would lose my position, my home, my friends, and—well, everything would go to pieces. No, no, my friend; God promises, "Thou shalt be built up." You will lose nothing but that which will prove to be gain for you; and all things needful will be added. 5. Your prayers will be answered. "Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee." O, how much that means—to be able to whisper our petitions into the ear of our Father, assured that He hears us. "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Ps. 37: 4. Yes, your path will grow brighter every day. "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4: 18), the eternal day of righteousness, whose sun shall never set. "It is considered dishonorable to sell bread to travelers passing through a Syrian village," says George McMackie, D.D., of Beirut, in the Sunday School Times. "At the base of the Oriental guest law is the fact that the stranger on a journey entrusts himself to God's care, and he who receives him is helping God to keep that which has been committed to Him. In the time of sickness, friends with the best of intentions crowd the sick room to keep the patient from feeling anxious or alarmed about himself. In the Oriental prison the prisoner is apt to be forgotten and the examination of his case to be indefinitely postponed unless friends come and show an interest in him." This throws light on Matt. 25: 35, 36. What a blessing it would be if there were more even of the old-time hospitality which this country used to know.