When I was in the 8th grade I held a party and invited half the people in school and “all” of the pretty girls. My next door neighbor, Joel, was a shy introvert. I was about his only friend and was always trying to get him in with my friends. Joel loved science and was brilliant, but he just could not bring himself to a point of fitting in with all the rest of his classmates. I invited him to my party anyway, all the while knowing that he would never accept and sure enough he declined.
The party was rocking on and suddenly everyone smelled something akin to rotten eggs. It turns out that Joel had lobbed a homemade stink bomb over the fence. We were all dancing in my garage and everyone came streaming outside to get away from the stench.
This incident never did affect my friendship with him, because I knew that he was just trying to get attention in the only way that he knew how. The other kids at school were not as amused or forgiving and made a point to avoid Joel from then on. He got his attention all right, but I’m not sure that is the kind of attention that he wanted.
The other day a friend told me that he is now an atheist. He states that he does not believe in God.
I told him that I do not believe in atheists – Touché.
To deny the existence of God is foolish and the Bible calls anyone who does so a fool. I believe many atheists are like Joel and just trying to get attention by becoming a human stink bomb and rebelling against the mainstream. Many are pseudo intellectuals who harp on their academia, but even Einstein and Hawkins did not deny the existence of a superior being and intelligent design. I can believe there are agnostics, but not atheists.
I am saddened by my friend’s declaration. I have prayed for him and his family often for many years. He does have a free will however, and he has reached an age of accountability. He is making his choice and it is his to make. One day he will die and will immediately discover that he is not just a lump of coal, but a living soul that will continue for eternity. Unless he changes his mind he will spend that time totally separated from God and the Bible declares he will spend it in agony. To deny God is far more serious than throwing a stink bomb over the fence. Surely those who deny the existence of our Holy God and the sacrifice of His Son Jesus will be dealt with harshly and will be separated from God and all that is good forever.
I asked him a simple question that seemed to make him uncomfortable:
“What if you’re wrong?”
With so much at stake I hope that he will revisit, rethink, and pray about his belief system before that day arrives. Whether he wants to or not, one day he will be on his knees bowing before the Lord and confessing and praising the holy name of God. He can do it in this life and go on to paradise, or do it at the judgment prior to departing for hell. Either way every knee shall bow . . .
Romans 14:11
For it is written, “As certainly as I live, declares the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God.”
November 30 2016 – Click here to listen