Earlier today I was watching a documentary about Stonehenge and the British ancestors who built it. Apparently, it was for the purpose of praying for the dead before their ashes are thrown into the river and there was a kind of ritual performed. It was very interesting how old civilizations live, you know? I'm always keen into watching or reading about these things but what struck me the most is this- that one of the strongest and basic instincts of man is to find something to worship, be it a person or an object. Somehow, in the deepest recesses of the mind and perhaps of the heart, lies a need for the creation to seek their Creator and to worship him.
In those days, they worship almost everything- the sun, the planets, a river or animal etc...and we consider them as heathen. History repeats itself, today mankind remains the same and we still worship, see. We worship money, women, material things, pleasures of life and of the flesh, we worship ourselves... I could go further and say within churches-we worship our Pastor, the church, we worship our doctrines, we worship the system. We may not call that as heathen now, I wonder why, because it operates on the same principles, however, it is clear that our desire to worship is innate and it is being channelled into the wrong path, a path further away from God.
Despite man's arrogance and the presence of atheistic philosophies in our midst, nature dictates that deep inside in our subconscious , we know that there is a God. We know that He is real. Sometimes, we just get so discouraged with life and with what's happening around us and within us that we cannot see it or we get too intellectual, too proud to recognize that there is a higher power.
I can remember not too long ago, a person I know once told me- 'Sin? what sin? I don't have a sin!'...I don't blame or condemn her for saying that because we do not normally 'see' our state unless we are exposed to the Word however, that statement is reflective of how a lot of people think. The bible says in Psalms 51:5
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive
Sin entered humanity from the fall and by default we are all born in sin. The truth is -our sin separated us from the Lord but there is hope dear reader, He made a way to save us. I am not just saying this to lead anyone on but from personal experience- I am certain and sure that God exists, that He has the power to lift you from that sticky, filthy, miry clay and make you a new creature in Christ, amen.
Christianity and God may be an abstract concept to most of us but that does not mean it's not real. If we only give it a chance...I think that is the best thing to do anyway, that is the challenge- try God before writing Him off.
I am aware that people get turned off with christianity not just because of the reasons mentioned above, but also because most people who profess to be christians do not walk the talk and that ruins the genuine believers who do live out their beliefs. Please be mindful that not everyone who claims to be christians are true but as the Scripture says 'by their fruits ye shall know them'.
Just don't let it discourage you, because if there is a true God then there are genuine believers. And don't try to brush off that niggling desire at the back of your mind which sorts of pushes you to seek Christ, to re-connect with your Maker because that itself is His mercy. The Bible says in John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
I also want to add this commentary from Jamieson-Fauset-Brown Bible with regards to that verse:
32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me-The "I" here is emphatic-I, taking the place of the world's ejected prince. "If lifted up," means not only after that I have been lifted up, but, through the virtue of that uplifting. And truly, the death of the Cross, in all its significance, revealed in the light, and borne in upon the heart, by the power of the Holy Ghost, possesses an attraction over the wide world-to civilized and savage, learned and illiterate, alike-which breaks down all opposition, assimilates all to itself, and forms out of the most heterogeneous and discordant materials a kingdom of surpassing glory, whose uniting principle is adoring subjection "to Him that loved them." "Will draw all men 'UNTO ME,'" says He. What lips could venture to utter such a word but His, which "dropt as an honeycomb," whose manner of speaking was evermore in the same spirit of conscious equality with the Father?
Amen to that....I thought that was good, what do you think? Maybe it's about time we act on that desire to seek the Lord and not just spend all of our time contemplating about whether we will serve and believe or we won't. We cannot stay in the valley of indecision forever. Sometimes, we take comfort in the very act of contemplation as if it is enough, but we know we have to come to a decision. A decision between life or death and it's our choice, nobody else can make up our minds. We have little time left now, God's plans are moving along. Perhaps it is time to reconsider?
