Prove It!

The heavens declare the glory of God;

   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
   like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
   and makes its circuit to the other;
   nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Psalm 19:1-6

I am an inquisitive person. I rarely take things at face value; I almost always demand proof. I investigate. I interrogate. It seems like I’m arguing, but I’m actually testing. I want to know if the things people say are true and I want to know why they’re true. A lot of Christians shy away from talking about God because they’re intimidated by people like me. God has never been intimidated in the least.

I questioned the existence of God once. Not out of frustration or bitterness, but on a calm, rational, deeply intellectual level. I dismissed as opinion everything I’d been told was fact about God, and I opened my mind to every possibility. I studied the major world religions, read tomes of philosophy, and took many long, reflective walks in the park.

It took seven years of God revealing his many disputed characteristics to me before I became a Christian again, but God almost immediately answered my core question: Does God exist? 

I often used to walk out on a bridge in the park and stare down at a stream and look up at the sky and listen to the water fall over the rocks and contemplate the heavens and … I think I always knew that God exists in some form because the proof of the creator is in the creation.

As it is written in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Only One Choice

I sometimes think that shopping is too complicated. There are too many choices!

 

Take toothpaste, for example. I can get it to whiten teeth, or to freshen my breath. They sell it for sensitive teeth and for soft enamels. Too many choices! I just need toothpaste!

 

Paper towel is another example. Some are the strongest, some the most absorbent. Still others come with soap already in them. Too many choices! I just need a disposable towel!

 

Today’s reading is 1Timothy 1:18-2:7. St. Paul, on a mission trip, was giving instructions to Timothy, the delegate leader of the Church at Ephesus.

 

Specifically, Paul is providing instructions regarding worship. As part of his instructions on prayers, Paul reminds Timothy, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom …” To the point, the only reason Timothy can pray to God is because he has faith in Jesus, who enables believers to approach God directly with requests.

 

In Paul’s day there were many religions claiming to have a path to God. Of course, there were numerous pagan religions, with priests encouraging people to worship creation, such as an alligator, a river or the Sun, instead of the creator. There also were Gnostics who claimed knowledge (the Greek word gnosis means knowledge) was necessary to reach God, not Christ’s crucifixion. Finally, Judaism had become a religion of Good Works.

 

Guess what? Things have not changed much in 2000 years. Pagan religions and Devil Worship exist today. The New Age Movement tells us we have what it takes to save ourselves. And there are many, many other religions that teach Good Works are required to reach God.

 

The only way to Heaven is through Jesus. The only reason we can approach God is because of Jesus.

 

What a blessing it is to approach God through prayer. He hears them all and answers them all. Of course, he does not always grant our request, but he does provide an answer.

 

Jesus is our mediator! Unlike shopping, Jesus is the only choice!