And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. -- Genesis 15:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. -- Hebrews 11:6
What kind of life pleases God? What does God want from me? He wants us to be merciful, kind, and patient
with one another, to help one another whenever someone is troubled or in trouble. If you get right down to it, the horizontal
sins listed in the Decalogue relate to taking advantage of our fellow humans,
denying them fair treatment, making them suffer, and using them that we might
have our way and satisfy our desires at their expense.
We can train and restrain people to the point that most,
most of the time, will adhere to a common set of societal standards. Even the most militant atheist can hardly
argue with the inherent sense of the Golden Rule. A stoner or a drunk knows that what goes around
comes around. That’s certainly better
than the attitude of the criminal, the sociopaths, psychopaths, central bankers,
politicians, and other parasites who are convinced that they might as well do
whatever they want and that their rights supersede the rights of the marks and the
masses.
As long as people stay fairly close to what we now call
traditional values and respect the boundaries of community and courtesy, a nation
or a people can manage to get along for a while – even if they are more or less
godless like so much of Europe these days.
But as we drift further out, we are more and more likely to go off
course. Anyone can navigate a vessel
while the coast is in sight. Under the
clouds on a moonless night far from shore, the only way to get home is to
accept the truth your compass shows you.
If you don’t believe it, you will never make it back. For those who fly airplanes and gradually move
up to being instrument-rated, a lack of faith can be even more disastrous. Planes crash when pilots refuse to believe
the evidence of their instruments.
All of our apparent goodness, kindness, long-suffering,
mercy, and forgiveness can be quickly forgotten if we do not believe God exists
and rewards those who seek Him. Abraham
obeyed God because he believed God. When
we believe God, we trust that He knows what He is doing regardless of our
present circumstances, the fears and trepidations of our flesh, the contrary
opinions of those around us, or the fashions and fads of the world.
If we want to please God, if you really want to know what
God wants from you and from me, He wants us to believe Him – not so He can be
proven right or so there will be a consensus but because He is right. God is not terribly concerned with the
direction of public or popular opinion.
He is not dismayed because the world at large, celebrities, oligarchs,
plutocrats, and high society ignore and reject Him. He asks if you and I trust Him because He
loves us and will commune with us, enriching and healing, and bringing peace,
insight and understanding by His presence.
God has people – the ones who believe.
