I was talking to a man this weekend who told me he was raised a Catholic and he said he guessed that he needed to remain a Catholic.
The obvious question in my mind is would he feel the same if he’d been raised a Hindu, Muslim Atheist, Agnostic, Witch, Hassidic Jew, Pentecostal, Baptist, or Methodist?
Should our parents decide what religion we should take up? Should our friends or someone we greatly admire tell us what to believe?
To my way of thinking there is nothing more important in life than making a decision concerning one’s belief system in a higher authority because eventually this life will be over; even the most hardcore skeptic will agree that it is inevitable that everyone will eventually die.
Okay, what happens then?
Opinions vary, but the overwhelming majority of people in the world believe there is an afterlife, but please close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you have just died and are at this very moment facing whatever comes next.
What do you see?
Right about now the agnostic is probably saying, “Yikes it sure is dark, could someone please turn on the lights?”
I suppose a true atheist might deduct that they aren’t thinking anything anymore and have ceased to exist. They have already begun the process of deteriorating into carbon matter. I don’t suppose they can even smell their rotting body, and there is no spirit or soul that lives on.
To be honest statistics tell us that there aren’t many agnostics/atheists in the world, so what do those of us who believe in some form of God see?
Hmmm…I picture myself kneeling before an Almighty Judge with Jesus acting as my Advocate telling God that my sentence of death has already been served, because He already endured the punishment for my sins and that I should be allowed entry into heaven. I don’t have mom or dad standing there beside me, or my wife or kids, none of my buddies, no pastors, just me and God. I don’t even see any of my favorite shotguns, fishing rigs, pickup truck…and YIKES! I’m buck naked! …Not good…
Even the most illogical among us can logically reason that when we die we take nothing with us including material things. We are not accompanied by anyone either, including family, friends, or religious mentors. We go all alone.
Not everyone has been logical about this question; the Egyptian Pharaohs for example, loaded up their tombs and pyramids with food, gold, precious stones, clothes, boats, and their favorite wines to use in the afterlife. Their mummified bodies didn’t get any use out of that stuff, but those who looted them centuries later were very appreciative of this desperate gesture.
So, why did the pharaohs believe those myths? Well getting back to my friend’s comment, probably because they were raised that way.
Hmmm…How we were raised might not be the best way to consider this important matter.
The most important thing that has to be worked out in this life is this issue. Most folks scurry around going to their kid’s soccer game or tennis tourney, or to work to make one of those million dollar deals, or to a party with some important person, or maybe for an evening out for a good meal and some drinking with one’s buddies, or getting married to that dream person, or popping a cap on that big spring gobbler, or whatever, leaving little time to think and meditate on this most important subject.
Selah!!!! Slow down, stop and rest this morning, take a deep breath and meditate and reflect on this important matter!
What if your final curtain is drawn today? Will there be an encore? Do you believe in reincarnation? Will you face blackness? Or will you face Almighty God whom the Bible states that the demons tremble at the mere mention of his name.
Sobering thought eh?
Billy Graham said, “As Christians, we have only one authority, one compass, the Word of God. The Bible is our one sure guide in an unsure world.”
I am a Christian, and I believe the Bible and Billy’s description of it. Not because my mama or daddy told me to believe it, but because in an effort to disprove it I read it. I then researched it for forty some odd years through even today and become more convinced of its veracity daily.
I do not believe that this beautiful world just happened. I believe it was created. If the Creator was powerful and intelligent enough to create all that we know, He would surely preserve His primary communique with His children, His Holy Bible. That is in large part why I believe the Bible to be inerrant. I don’t believe God would allow His word to be perverted, and further, even though it was written in ancient times by poorly educated prophets, I’ve never found anything I can dispute in spite of the fact that we are far more advanced today to the point of putting folks on the moon. That’s because God directed what was to be written down and no scientist or doubter will ever find evidence that even one word is wrong.
God will not allow that to happen.
I’m not the only one who ever tried to disprove the Bible. Much smarter folks than me have tried for thousands of years, but no one has succeeded. The Bible tells us what happens after we die. If the blood of Jesus covers our sins, then we are welcomed into heaven to live with Jesus forever. If it does not cover our sins then we will be eternally separated from God and will suffer eternally.
The choice is ours. The Bible is there just waiting to be read. Don’t let the meaningless drivel of this world detract you from what is so important. Don’t listen to mama or me or anyone other than God. I recommend reading the bible for yourself. Begin in Romans and then go to Matthew and read the entire New Testament.
Read slowly and listen for God’s gentle voice. Skip the parts you don’t understand and take your time on the parts that leap out at you. The Bible is “living” and that means it will interact with your thought processes and God will enable it to penetrate every portion of your brain and body as far as the marrow inside your bones like a sharp edged sword cutting through you. He will enable you to understand and your faith will increase.
If you closed your eyes and imagined that you have just died and did not see Jesus smiling at you, calmly reassuring you, and welcoming you into heaven, then ask Him to come into your heart today. Simply confess your sins, ask for forgiveness for them, and begin following Him instead of this fleeting dying world.
Oh yeah! I see him now welcoming me home…
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.