February 5, 2026

Paulina De La Fuente
“So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.”
Acts 17:22–25 NLT

I love that Paul gives an answer to what they “worship without knowing.” How interesting that the people held a literal space on an altar for this “unknown God.” I correlate this to the same thing we do in our hearts — filling a space with other things that all have more needs than what we could ever provide, instead of placing God on that altar that He alone is meant to fill, as He has no needs. What we have tried to fill in our hearts time and time again, whether that be with other people, achievements, or self-worth, ends up requiring more of us than it provides for us. Each time we turn up empty, more discouraged, defeated, and lonely.

Isn’t that especially true before we come to know Jesus? And yet…once what was unknown becomes known, we understand what that holding place has been for! A God who has no needs, but invites us to Himself in our deepest needs. A God in whom “we live and move and find our being.” (Acts 17:28 NIV)

God created us to be with Him — we all have this empty altar “for the unknown God” that cannot be filled with anyone or anything other than Him. I wonder how that impacts how we view others and how we share with others. That space is already there. God invites us not only to fill it with Him, but to invite others to do the same.