Testimony

One of my favorite passages of scripture is in Acts 17 verses 23-33. This is commonly known as Paul’s declaration of the unknown god.  I include it now because I feel that my discussion of the verses loses some of the beauty in his words.

“23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

 32 ¶And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

 33 So Paul departed from among them.”

As Paul is in Athens, he sees people on a hill worshipping a statue with the inscription, “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”. He then gives them a beautiful testimony of who God is. This testimony speaks to the creation of the world, the divinity of each of us and the love the He has for us, His call to repentance and the resurrection of the Savior. It is simple in its message and pure in spirit.

How do our testimonies measure up to this? When we share the Gospel, how do we witness of Christ or the Father? I can’t help but feel that we can each put a greater focus on the truth in the gospel instead of our interpretation of it. Are we sharing the Truth or what we feel is right? Maybe we need to share our testimonies more.

I know that I want to speak with Paul and declare that God created us and knows us. He asks nothing of us except that we do the things necessary that we may see Him again. We are His children; He is the father of our spirits. Just as an earthly father would not leave his children, He will not leave us. We may not always understand what he asks of us but He will always guide us.

Just as those who heard Paul had the choice to mock him or to listen to the spirit, so do you and so do all of those that hear your testimony. 

Just know that I KNOW these things. I do not doubt them.