God Centered

Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:36

We have centers for everything: ministry centers, childcare centers, convention centers, medical centers, and shopping centers. There’s the Lincoln Center in New York, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, and the Kennedy Center in Washington. The word center comes from a Greek term meaning a prick or sharp point, specifically the exact point marking the middle of a geometric circle.

If something is the center, everything else revolves around it. Just as the planets orbit around the sun, our habits, hearts, affections, and thoughts must revolve around the Lord Jesus, who is the ultimate center of all reality (Colossians 1:17).

The French writer François Fénelon advises us to become so committed to God’s glory that all other motives pale in comparison, saying, “It is then that God becomes . . . the center of the soul, to which all its affections tend.”

When we’re self-centered, we’re self-deceived. When God is central, we can have confidence that He is in control and that our worlds are aligned correctly.

Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.

HENRY VAN DYKE