Joni And Friends 22 August 2024 Devotional: Anthropomorphism
Read and Meditate on Today’s Joni and Friends Daily Devotional for Thursday 22nd August 2024 written by Joni Eareckson-Tada. May the Lord bless you as you study!
Scripture: “Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see.” Isaiah 37:17
“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Isaiah 49:16
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
Deuteronomy 33:27
Anthropo—what? That’s a grown-up word if ever I heard one! I’m glad God doesn’t choose the sorts of words theologians do. God talks to us using terms we can understand. And this, friend, is exactly what anthropomorphism is. It is the practice of God describing himself in human language, as though he had feet (Ex. 24:10) and a face (Matt. 18:10) and a heart (Hos. 11:8). It’s a way of communicating. A way of choosing word pictures that we can immediately grasp. It’s the language of a Father speaking to his children. Almost—and I don’t mean this disrespectfully—as if he were using baby talk.
Of course, the Bible as a whole denies any literal similarity of form between God and his creatures. “God is spirit,” it says in John 4:24. Yet because God is so personal, so active in his creation, because of his great love, he literally revealed himself in the form of a man. “Christ Jesus…who, being in very nature God…made himself nothing…being made in human likeness” (Phil. 2:5-7).
God took on the form of a human—with a heart, eyes, ears, and feet. This means that with respect to Jesus, we can literally speak of God in human form. He invites us to do so when he uses such language himself.
Picture yourself being held by God’s everlasting arms today. Speak to him in prayer, using human word pictures. He’s so personal with you…be personal with him.
Hold me by your hand, Lord. Today may I follow in your footsteps. Listen to your voice. Feel your smile. And hear your heartbeat.
John Hagee Daily Devotional 22 August 2024 || Psalm 135:13
