Story by Scotty Gray.
I was just thinking…about believing in God.
Growing up in the U S in the 1960s meant that you probably lived the “Leave It To Beaver” life. You know; dad worked a blue or white collar job during the weekdays, with plenty of time on the weekends for household projects, leisure activities and of course, church. In Northeast Wisconsin where I grew up, you were most likely Catholic or Lutheran, or one of the “smaller” denominations. This meant that you were raised with some bible teaching. You knew the names Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Peter, Paul and Mary – oh, sorry…but you heard the stories and looked forward to the annual Christian holidays throughout the year.
Of course, like everything else in the bible, from where all of the stories come, we learn about who God is. It’s His book; He wrote it, either by having people share their eyewitness accounts or through the many “secretaries” who wrote what He told them to write.
It’s through this book, the bible, that we find God to be outside of time and space – you know, the “I Am?” this “name”: I am – spoken by God Himself, points to the fact that to Him, time and space are irrelevant – time is and space is. Thus, it is just as likely as not, that out of the billions of miles of space (or more), that God created only one “species,” as it were, with His breath in them, and that He placed them on one tiny planet amongst the potential millions.
…and, because of the IRRELEVANCE of time, He didn’t need millions of years to make everything. Which is more likely? That over millions of years, nothing created everything, against all natural law and science, and that nothing created a perfectly flowing universe, in which this planet is full of living creatures – or that in 144 hours, (that’s the six days of creation mentioned in the bible in Genesis) the timeless Creator created the order of the universe. Maybe the question should be, “which is more likely?” The facts are chaos cannot create order, only more chaos; and order can become chaos, but only order can create order – it’s science.
For most humans, here’s the problem: we’re not looking for truth, we’re looking for justification. Through the age-old condition of “nature and nurture,” significantly influenced by sin, most every one of us decides on a comfortable, self-serving truth, then seeks everything and anything that justifies our created beliefs. Sadly, we’re then consumed by a “don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up” mentality. A young relative of mine, who claims atheism, regularly listens to podcasts, reinforcing his belief that, “I am the god of my own existence.” Oh, and he’s got nothing on Judas. Think about it: Judas was with Jesus for the entire 3 years of His earthly ministry.
He heard Him repeatedly demolish His accusers with His Godly wisdom, (Luke chapter 2: 41 thru 52). Judas saw the miracles. Jesus healing people with a word. In Matthew, chapter 8: verses 22-26, telling a paralytic his sins were forgiven and in and Matthew 9, verse 2, healing a royal official’s son from a distance. In John chapter 4: verses 46–54.) Restoring sight to blind, (Mark Chapter 8 and John Chapter 9). casting out spirits, (Matthew chapter 8: verses 28-34 & Mark chapter 5: verses 1-17.) Feeding 5,000 people starting with just five small loaves of bread and two small fish, (Matthew chapter 14: verses13-21.) And raising people from the dead. (Luke 7:15, Mark 5:42, and John 11:44). Yet, Judas still denied Him as the Savior sent by God.
So, when it comes down to it, the real question we must answer is not “do I believe in God” but “do I believe God?” “Do I believe what the Creator of all existence tells me about Himself and His creation, or am I smarter than Him?” The Creator has given us the greatest wisdom, guidance, direction for life and the key to eternal life with Him, all in one little book, available practically everywhere on the planet he made, in less than one week. Hey – He said it, I believe it, that settles it.
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