Only One Way? How Intolerant!

How can I say there's only one way to God?  Because it's true.

• The truth stands alone, but it takes a million lies to cover it up.
• The truth is simple, but the lies become more and more elaborate.
• The truth is unchanging, but the lies bend to conform themselves to every shift in society.
• Contrary to popular opinion, there is only one explanation that is 100% truth.
  

Consider these things:

• If there is a God, and if He is good--would He give people free will, or would he control and manipulate them?

That may seem pretty straightforward, He'd give them free will--but have you ever stopped to think about this:

• How would He prevent bad things from happening, yet not interfere with anyone's free will?

I don't believe that's possible.  So, bad things happen to us all.

And how could everyone NOT love Him, if nothing bad ever happened to any of us?

Lets put it in human terms.  Suppose someone is obsessed with you, but you don't know it.  They want you to love them, because they 'love' you.  So, they lure you into a date, a nice daylong cruise on their private yacht.  But, through a series of unfortunate events, the boat sinks and they save you from drowning.  You end up stranded, alone on a desert island with this person--and for some reason, there is no hope of rescue, ever.

Not knowing that this was all staged, you eventually come to love this person, who is brave and strong and always looking out for you.  You come to depend on them, and they go out of their way to provide what you need.  Yet, it is love based on a lie.

If this person is manipulating and deceiving you, they don't really love you, aren't looking out for your best interests, and can't be trusted. They are not who you thought they were-they are the worst kind of person.   This person has robbed you, for the most part, of your right to choose!  Knowing that, your love would turn to hate.

What kind of a person would be so desperate for your love, that they would go to such great lengths to entrap you?  In fact, don't we become a bit suspicious of someone who is nothing but devoted to us?  Don't we eventually perceive their desperation?

Now, if the God who created Heaven and Earth never let anything bad happen to us, and so completely sheltered us--isn't it possible that we would begin to see Him as desperate and needy, and capable of manipulating and deceiving us?  Could we really trust Him?

And what kind of character would that show Him to have, if He would do that to you?  He would not be a good God, worthy of love and devotion--He would be a desperate, needy, lying, deceiving, evil 'god'.  (Oh wait, there is someone like that . . . ever heard of someone 'making a deal with the devil'?  That's when someone trades in their free will for the promise of all their dreams coming true . . . )

Yet, how many of you blame God when bad things happen to you?  What do you want--free will, or a perfect life that's free from pain?  If He chooses to give you free will, you're angry when bad things happen.  But, if He took away your free will in order to spare you pain, could you love or respect Him then?


So, assuming we've gotten past the question of God's character . . .

• Why would He only make one way? 

My question to you--why should He make more than one way?  If He is Lord of all, and good, doesn't He have a monopoly on the 'product'? (truth and eternal life)

Does Amtrak advertise?  No.  Why not?  Because there is no one else you can turn to for that product.  If you want to ride a train across the U.S., you have to go to Amtrak--on their terms!  You pay the price they require, and you accommodate your schedule to the times their train is going to where you want to go. 

And they know this, so why should they waste their effort trying to persuade you?  (And because they're government run, they don't really care if they make a profit, or if you're satisfied with the service--think Post Office, DMV, etc.)

Like Amtrak, and the Post Office, God has a monopoly.  If you want what He alone can provide, you'll go to Him on His terms.  Not to mention, you are a mere mortal, formed from the dust of the Earth--and He is the Creator and Lord of everything that exists!  Who are you anyway, to think you can negotiate the terms?

Among us Americans, the roots of capitalism are so deep in us, that we don't even realize it.

• 'There's no free lunch'--yes and no.  Someone has to pay, that's true--but it might not be you.
• We are used to dealing with companies that are needy, for us to choose them--because, if we don't, they die.
• We want to be convinced, persuaded, wooed--I am the one with the power (the $$ to spend)--beg me to spend it on your product.
• We are used to hearing lies and exaggerated claims.
• 'You get what you pay for'--this one causes us to judge the value of a product by what it costs us.  If it's free, it can't be worth much . . .

These are some of the attitudes that make it hard for us to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.  But these attitudes don't apply in the relationship between God and man, because:

• God made everything--we were born into a world that contained everything we needed.  Is that not a 'free lunch'?  It is not God, but man, that has taken it upon himself to decide who is entitled to have, and who isn't.  God made enough of everything we need, for all of us.  It is men who refuse to share.
• God doesn't need us.  He is complete without us.  He is not needy.  He was, long before we were, and He will continue, even if we should all perish.  Because He does not need us, there is no reason for Him to beg, lie, woo, persuade, exaggerate or deceive us.  And, as I said before, He has a monopoly on the product.  If you choose God, you win.  If you don't, it's your loss, not His.
• You get what you pay for--maybe, where people are concerned (but most of the time you get less).  God is not greedy--everything* is His.  He can make more of whatever He chooses.  He has no costs to cover, no shortage of supplies.  He has no need to hoard.  It pleases Him to share freely.  He isn't going to gauge 'how much it's worth to you' to exact that much in payment from you,  for the things you need.  He doesn't deny you, based on your inability to pay.  He is not trying 'to create a brand for Himself', that He should only sell things to the highest bidder.  With Him, things are free--that's God's economy.  He only asks that you be a good steward of what He provides. 

*Actually, I wasn't completely accurate. . .  in saying that everything is His.  You aren't.  No man is, unless they choose to be.  Your spirit and your will belong to you--that was a gift to you from God.  You didn't ask to be born, and He won't burden you with eternal life, unless you ask for it. 

After you have worn out the body He loaned you for your life on this earth, you return it, along with your soul and spirit, to God.  He'll give your body back to the dust He made you from.  He'll judge you (by the laws He set down for mankind, and based on how you've lived your life). Then He'll dispose of what's left of you.

If, however, while you journey through this life, you come to love truth, righteousness and justice, and long for fellowship with God, there is a way.  One way.  And that should not surprise you.  After all, how many keys can open your front door?  Just one.  (Sure, you may  have some exact duplicates, but there is only one configuration of dips and ridges that will line up correctly inside the keyhole to open the lock.)


That way is through genuine repentance, and faith in Jesus' death on your behalf.  None of us is 'good enough' to get there without Him.  We have all sinned and 'missed the mark'.

An honorable man knocks at the front door--he doesn't look for a window he can sneak in through.  So it is with the kingdom of God.  If you truly seek God's mercy, you will go to Him in humbleness, and accept His terms (not with your head held high in haughty pride, demanding that He make you a way that appeals more to you).  And, if your repentance is genuine, the way you live the rest of your life will prove it.

Go to the one who died for you, and ask Him for mercy.  Once you leave this life, it will be too late.