Q: Why do some love the thought that there is a God, and others hate it?
Suggested Daily Reading: Luke 21:27-28 and Revelation 6:15-17
A: Imagine a girl returning to her car in an underground parking ramp. As she sets down her shopping bags to find her keys in her purse a man suddenly appears next to her with a knife in his hand. She looks around but no one is in sight. She stands there frozen with fear. But just at that moment they both hear a car approaching and recognize that it is a police car! Can you understand that the sight of the same police car fills the heart of one with fear and the other with joy? Why? Because the one is guilty and the other is not.
Think of two teens who both told their parents that they were going to a church youth group meeting the previous evening. The one did, but the other lied to his parents and went out with friends somewhere else. The next morning at breakfast their Moms want to talk with them about the youth meeting. The one enjoys talking with his Mom about the evening, but the other hates his Mom’s questions and looks for a way to escape or change the subject. Why?
The previous two examples illustrate why some people love the thought that there is a God, but others hate it. If I am a guilty sinner who has not honestly confessed my sins to God, I am afraid and want to hide from God’s presence. I hate the thought of having to appear before God, to be in His presence. If, however, all my sins are forgiven and washed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and my heart’s desire is to know, love and serve God more and more, then I love the thought of God and of being in His presence.
We see this great difference in the beginning of world history and at the end of it. Why did Adam and Eve love to walk with God in paradise before they ate fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and then hated the thought of meeting God and tried to hide from Him after they ate? Read the two daily readings listed above. Why will one group of people love Jesus’ coming again at the end of time, and others hate it?
Do you like to think about God, or do you hate the truth that there is a God? Is your heart’s desire to know, love and serve God more through Jesus Christ your Lord, or not?