Weekly Devotional 3-24-14 A Foolish Person, A Wise Person
It is a foolish person that believes there is no God. It is a foolish person that will discount the possibility of there being a God. It is a foolish person who believes that if there is a God He is all loving and all forgiving God, and does not consider that He is also a God of holiness. It is a foolish person who sets his own standards of life. It is a foolish person who believes that life ceases at the death of his body. It is a foolish person that does not believe that God will hold a person accountable for his sins. It is a foolish person that believes that if there is a God He may punish him for a short period of time, and then allow him or her to live in eternal bliss.
To such persons these questions must be asked: What if you are wrong about these things? What if there is a God? What if He is a God of righteousness as well as being a God of love? What if His righteousness demands judgment? What if that judgment is eternal separation from Him spent in an eternal state of torment, an eternal torment that cannot be reversed?
The Bible, which the foolish person also does not believe, declares that there is a God. That He is a God of love, but that He is also a holy God whose holiness demands justice. That He will hold each person accountable if he or she does not repent of his or her sin and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. That He or she will be judged and cast out from the presence of God for eternity, an eternity that no one can walk away from, or ease the anguish in which he finds himself.
The wise person, on the other hand, will believe in and accept what the Bible says about these things. He or she will believe in and accept God’s holiness and his or her sinfulness. The wise person will believe and accept that he or she is separated from God because of that sin. A wise person will believe and accept that his or her sin must be dealt with. The wise person will believe God and turn to Him for mercy and forgiveness. The wise person will accept God’s provision for that forgiveness, the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus. John 3:18 and 3:36 well describe the wise and foolish person. We read, “18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”….“36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The foolish person should look around. All that exists in the natural world points to a creator. The nation of Israel testifies of the existence of God who has maintained their existence through many captivities and attempted annihilations. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead testifies of God who through David, Israel esteemed king, said that He would not permit His Holy One to see corruption (Isaiah 16:10). This was written eight-hundred plus years before that Holy One walked the earth. Furthermore, the continued existence of the church testifies that there is a God. For it was the Son of God who said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.”
Perhaps the foolishness of the foolish person is that he, or she, does not want to believe. But is that not a terrible decision? Because, if God exists (He does) and if He means what He says and says what He means then the foolish person will someday stand before God the Son and be sentenced to an eternal existence of torment.
The wise person on the other hand will stand before God the Son to receive reward and hear the Lord declare, “Well done My faithful servant.”
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