Sunday 22 March 2009

What a Waste of Time

Do you like wasting your time?
Hebrews 11:6 describes what is possibly the biggest lost cause of them all, and yet one into which otherwise intelligent people have poured huge amounts of time and effort down through the ages. The verse says "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
Many seek to prove or disprove the existence of God by their intellect, by clever philosophical argument or logical reasoning. Some point to the natural world or the laws of science while others turn to history and comb ancient texts in dogged pusuit of a secret clue.
But all this is a complete waste of time. If we're going to "come to God" as the verse says, if we ever hope to approach that place where God can be found and seen, then there's only one way and that is to come by faith. The writer is very clear, "he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Notice the word "must." Your arguments won't bring you to God and neither will they prove his non-existence. Science, nature, and all the intellect and philosophy of man will equally get you nowhere. Even religion is a waste of time. Unless you're willing to exercise faith your search will be in vain.
This upsets some and frustrates many more, but that's the way it is. You see, if God really is God then His position gives Him the right to make the rules. And He's decided that only those who are prepared to approach Him in humble faith are going to find Him. "Humility," as a wise friend of mine often says, "is what gains entrance." It's your ticket to the door, it places your name on heaven's guest list. The humble soul stops trying to evaluate God, to disprove God, to analyse God, and simply worships Him. It makes sense if you think about it - if we could understand God, categorise Him and explain Him then by that very act we've reduced Him to the level of our own intelligence and discovered that after all He's no wiser than us. But the glory of the true God is as far beyond the grasp of our feeble human understanding as quantum physics is beyond the reach of the average family dog. If God truly is God, then we can never figure Him out. But what a glorious truth it is that while we could never reach Him by our own efforts God has provided a way for us to find him, a way so simple that it can be mastered by the lowliest peasant or the youngest child.
Stop wasting your time. Approach God in simple, humble faith and you'll find that He's more than willing to make Himself known.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for that Bishop. We can theorise all we like about the proofs for the existence of God, but faith is the key that unlocks the knowledge of God and the reasons and purpose for the existence of the natural world; questions which science can never answer.

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  2. Exactly. Thanks for your comment

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