Romans 1:22,23 “We Need Thee”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²²Claiming to be wise ones, they were made foolish  ²³and changed the glory of the incorruptible God in [the] likeness of [the] image of corruptible man and birds and animals and reptiles.

As the old KJV translated it, “Professing themselves to be wise…” – therein lies a recipe for certain disaster, does it not?

As I survey back over life, this simple truth amazes me: “God resists the proud; He gives His grace to the humble.” Unfortunately for us, the sin of pride is the very skin we live in. “Professing themselves to be wise:” I would note here this sad fact is particularly the affliction of youth. It would seem almost impossible to be young and not to be arrogant. Young people of every generation are quite sure they have all the answers. As the saying goes, “They just haven’t figured out the questions.” It is shocking and humbling to look back and see how completely arrogant I was in my younger days.

Another thing that amazes me is that people can grow old and still be arrogant. I would observe that, in general, age does tend to humble people. As we all live our lives and make horrible mistakes, as we each build our own personal Hall of Shame and assemble our own seemingly endless catalog of agonizing regrets, I would suggest it is not at all uncommon that people get “nicer” as they get older. That makes perfect sense. It’s too bad most of us can’t figure out humility while we’re young and at least minimize the nightmare of our own folly, but, again, it amazes me that anyone could grow old and still be arrogant. God deliver us all!

If we would understand Paul here in these simple verses, we can understand this problem. Although Paul is (I believe) primarily tracing the devolution of the entire human race, yet what he says is true of every one of us and of every nation, save but for the grace of God. “We have met the enemy and he is us.” It is a sad reality that our fallen hearts are born to be proud, to think ourselves wise, and therein to suffer the destiny to inevitably become fools.

As we learn in these verses and see throughout human history, this problem is so pervasive and so degrading, that nearly everywhere people have been and are reduced to actually bowing down in front of statues. They actually, really imagine them to be their saviors! If it weren’t so sad, it would be ludicrous.

But how can intelligent human beings fall into such indignity? How could we all be so utterly self-destructive? “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…” Therein lies the problem. Jesus made it very clear, “For without Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The plain, simple fact is that we need God. When a human being begins to think and live like they don’t need Him, they might as well cut off their legs and try to walk. Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. The very essence of our beings includes God, includes us being in a constant, intimate and loving, trusting relationship with Him. “With Him, nothing shall be impossible.” “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” “I am strong, when I am on Your shoulders; You raise me up to more than I can be.” To know God and walk with Him raises us human beings. To ignore Him sets us on a certain path to self-destruction.

I thought it was interesting back in v21 to notice one of the words. The passage said, “Knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful.” Note the word “glorified.” It actually doesn’t have to be that strong a word. It could have been translated simply, “saw” or “recognized” or “acknowledged” – something much more mundane and commonplace. What the verse is saying is that, knowing God, they simply ignored Him. They went about their days thinking and acting like they didn’t need Him. Oh, yes. He was there. They did know Him. They just didn’t think they needed Him. They pushed Him to the back of their hearts. They thought they could do it on their own.

Obviously, this is the point where this verse intersects with my life and yours. Yes, they were bad. It is shameful that the human race knew God and pushed Him away. But you and I make those same choices every day. If you and I are born-again people, then it is true without a doubt that we “know” God. But have we entered into that deep, personal relationship of walking with Him, acknowledging Him, realizing we desperately need Him every second? Do we live what we sing, “I need Thee every hour …”

He isn’t a God to be worshipped on Sunday morning or to be kept on our shelf for those moments when we’re in big trouble and need a God to pray to. We need Him. The very essence of our being includes a constant, loving relationship with Him. We are not wise…but He is.

Can I suggest this relationship starts with our attention to the Word? The Word is our wisdom. It is the place we can go to truly know His mind and His heart, to be fed His wisdom. All of this is precisely why Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” God’s Word is our freedom. It frees us from us. It draws us into our relationship with Him. It draws us to the very place He created us to be. Jesus also said, “For this is eternal life, that they might know Thee…”

And, back to our passage, what is the alternative? As the old adage goes, “If you don’t worship God, you’ll find something else to worship.” The problem is that those “something else’s” draw us down, not lift us up. We may not be falling down in front of sticks or burning our children in fires, but to ignore God sets us on that same path.

It is a shame where the human race has gone and where it heads again and again, but, knowing God, you and I face that same choice every day, every second. Lord, open our eyes to see You, to see that You are our life, that life itself is knowing You. Let us truly live the life You made us to live, to be the people You made us to be. And in this world of hopeless darkness, may Your light shine out of us and draw others into Your heart.

We need Thee...every hour.