Born with the essentials, not with god
I had a thought today. Human beings are born with what I call the ‘absolute essentials’ of survival. A person automatically knows to breath to stay alive, to eat when hungry and to drink when thirsty.
Nobody has to be taught any of the above to stay alive. However according to religion your being alive is totally insignificant compared to the eternity that awaits you afterward. When you compare something finite to something infinite the finite something (no matter how large) is reduced to zero in comparison.
So effectively your life on earth does not matter at all in the grand scheme of things. Yet you are born with the ‘absolute essentials’ to live. If the afterlife is infinitely more important why must we rely on others to teach us? Why aren’t we born with a sense of God? I mean knowledge and belief in God are infinitely more essential than breathing right? Yet every single person is born without religion or belief of any kind and this puts their immortal souls in potentialy infinite danger.
If God created us and belief in him is essential to our eternal lives, shouldn’t awareness of him be part of our ‘absolute essentials’? It should be. But it’s not. So God gave us the most incredible handicap, in that we have to just ‘hope’ somebody tells us about him (and the correct him at that).
Either that or maybe we weren’t created.
I’m just saying…
Ahhhh but mantred you missed what I believe what is the most significant error in your reasoning.
Your approach is much to simple. By your example we should know that our heart should beat, that our brain should react, that we should breath, etc. That is not something that we know but something that is “wired” into our bodies.
Now taking into account we are born with these abilities we are also born completely helpless, vulnerable and dependant on someone else to provide for our very existance. We don’t know who this person is, just that somewhere inside of us we know we need someone to provide for our existance. As time goes by a relationship grows with this person.
You speak of religion as one who has had just a bit of religion. Religion (I believe) is inherently corrupt. Religiin is comprised of men (mankind) mostly for mankind. It is my beliefe that I was created for a realtionship with my Creator. The more I try to come to know Him the easier it is for me to “hear” His voice. Over time, I have been able to discern what is true and false. I haad a profound experience in 1999 that sealed it for me but it is off this topic and I won’t hijack your thread without your permission.
You basically asked (in closing) why would God creat us without some semblance of us knowing that we truely need Him. I believe He did. However, through life experiences (perhaps at a very young age that we are not aware of) someone begins to turn us away.
It is not God Who has corrupted this world it is mankind.
Best of luck
I like very much your response and would like to hear more. Please post hear or on your own blog if you have it. I am going to see Batman so I will respond fully later.
I just saw your comment and I’m just going up to bed for the night. Taking the family to the mountains for a few days so will be out till Tuesday. Feel free to check out the blog/itunes (all free) my pastor runs. “legacycathedral.org”
I will however post something for you that is unexplainable other than the way I completely understand it.
June 1999
My father was an abusive alcoholic, who was out of town 4-5 nights a week. He used to just beat the tar out of me, so much so that my mom would have to “pull him off” of me. I was second in the birth order with 4 sisters and my brother came along when I was 13.
He (my dad) used to take me to his girl friend’s (secretary’s) house and I would have to wait out in the car. I can still see her standing on the steps with that blond hair up in a bun and that yellow dress on, holding the screen door open for my dad.
When I turned 13 we had “the talk”. My dad told me that if I ever had the chance to “get” a girl, I should do it, that I may be able to get that same girl later but that would just be one more “piece”.
When I turned 17 I joined the US Navy.
As dad got older he “mellowed”. When I would go home to visit I would see pictures of him at family functions or church functions etc. From the pics he looked like a pretty good guy. My siblings, their spouses & grandkids would always tell me how he has changed. But I just knew the man I knew, not the man my dad eventually became.
Now, fast forward to 9yrs ago. I got a call that said my dad was near death, that I had better come. It was a little over a 600 mile drive and during that drive I just kept asking the Lord to give me one more audience with my dad so I could speak to him about his relationship with the Savior. I told the Lord that I never got to spend any time with my dad as I was growing up, too let me speak to him about his salvation so we could be together in eternity.
Dad was in the hospital with IVs in each arm, oxygen in his nose, a catheter and a bunch of other wires coming from under his gown. You could just sense the spirit of death in the room. Dad had had a lung removed years before and the lung he had left had emphysema.
The next night it was my turn to stay with dad. Around 10pm I felt a “prompting” to stand at the foot of my dad’s bed and pray over him in the Spirit. After about 30mts I had another Impression. “Where’s the praise? You never praise Me.” I spoke back to that “Impression”, forgive me Lord, I will praise You for everything you bring to my mind now. The first thing out of my mouth was “I thank You, O Lord, for divinely placing me in this family in the birth order which You placed me.” I don’t recall all I prayed after that but after about 30mts more it was like a light switch was switched in the room and the spirit of death was broken. My dad’s eyes fluttered open and he says “Hi son” (small grin on his face). Hey dad, are you thirsty, (put the straw in his mouth). How about some cantaloupe? Yeh. I went to the frig in his room and got the cantaloupe that the family had brought. Since dad didn’t have any teeth the cantaloupe was soft enough and he enjoyed it. He had been pretty much “out of it” for the previous two days and hadn’t eaten a thing.
My devoutly Catholic mom comes in the next morning. I related the nights experiences to her and asked her; “He looks better, huh?” Well, I guess the medication is finally working, she replied. I thought after over a week, you’re giving the medication credit?!
So then the doctors role around and mom and the docs call me out into the hallway and basically say, looks like your dad is going to make it you might as well head on home.
But at this point I am still intimidated by my dad…even on his death-bed. Finally, I sat on the edge of his bed ( alone with him) and took his hand and said, “Dad, I just can’t leave without knowing if you’ve made a commitment to Jesus or not.” He squeezed my hand so hard that it hurt just a bit and says to me “Son I made that commitment long ago”.
As soon as he said that another “voice” spoke to me. “You see how your dad lived his life, there’s no way you will ever see him in heaven.” Immediately my response was, “The Bible says that the spirit never dies. All the way home me and the “voice” are arguing about my dad’s eternal home. I just kept saying “the spirit never dies”
After being home a couple of days my wife asks me to take some clothing up to the Goodwill drop sight. Now, mind you, I am still “arguing” with that “voice”. So I get to the Goodwill and ask the old lady where the clothes go. In the back she replied. As I was going by her desk I noticed she had a red-letter edition bible open to the book of Matthew. I ask her what she is reading and she says she is reading the Good Book. I can see that but what are you studying I asked her. Me and a couple of other ladies have a ministry where we cast out demon spirits she says. So here’s my chance to unload, I thought. I say to her, let me tell you about my week last week. Well, let me tell you something, she says. I had a really difficult week let me tell you about it I insisted. She says very calmly “The Lord wants me to tell you something right now.” I said “Sister, I don’t want to get in the way of that, what is it?” She says, “The Lord wants me to tell you that the spirit never dies.” OMG, my knees buckled and I just started weeping!
We chatted a bit longer and I found out that that was her first day working for Goodwill. I looked for her the next day but she wasn’t there…and hasn’t been back since.
The Bible says to be careful because we never know when we may be entertaining angels. For a complete stranger to speak verbatim what I had been “arguing” with the enemy about for nearly a week is no coincidence.
I believe that the Lord sent one of His angels to comfort me in my hour of need.
I know what I know. I know the experiences I have had and that cannot be diminished.
M54
Wow, thanks so much for sharing that experience with me. It seems very profound and personal, not something to be shared lightly. It’s late and I was just up getting a drink of water so I’ll not comment on it at this time but rather I’ll sleep on it and give it some time to digest.
I look forward to discussing and will post again probably sunday or monday.
Thanks again
-Mantred
You never got back with me.
I trust things are well with you and yours.
Blessings,
M