“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free ….. If the Son therefore shall make you free , ye shall be free indeed.”–John 8:32, 36
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way , the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”— John 14:6
It is a sad fact that far too many important decisions are based on tradition or taste, personal preference, than on the truth. We have a bad habit of throwing commonsense out the window when we try to defend our desires or prove our prejudices. We base our conclusions and pin our hopes on what we want to believe rather than the truth. We go with our feelings rather than the facts. The examples are many.
I was born and raised in Springfield, Mo. (“the Queen City of the Ozarks”), attended Central High School, rooted for the St. Louis Cardinals, and idolized Stan “the man” Musial. I’ve often, tongue-in-cheek, referred to Springfield as “the Holy Land”, but that doesn’t make it so. I simply wanted to express my fondness for the city in a way that would get attention– and when you live in Texas it does! The fact is Springfield had/has a lot of room for improvement, the Central High Bulldogs were not always the best team in town, the Cards didn’t always win the World Series, and Stan the man didn’t have the best stats in baseball. Saying they are my favorites is one thing, proving they are the best is another. The team or town you root for and support might be your favorite, but that doesn’t make them best. The record speaks for itself.
Now, none of this stuff really matters–but some things do! Here’s the problem. Some people choose their religion like they choose their favorite ball team, etc. Rather than making sure they are right they support whatever appeals to them. Their belief system and/or choice of a church isn’t based on the truth, but rather on taste—personal preference. They base their eternal destiny on their feelings rather than the facts. And that doesn’t end well.
Several years ago I made one of the most stupid statements anyone could make. Before I became a Christian, and totally ignorant of the Bible, someone ask me about my beliefs about God. It was obvious that I wasn’t a Christian and this person was trying to witness to me. My response was, “I’m satisfied with what I believe about God”. There were a couple of problems with that. First, I didn’t know what I believed about God. I was simply trying to avoid the subject. Second, and more to the point, me being satisfied with my beliefs didn’t make them right, nor did it make me safe. And the same is true of you. What God thinks is all that matters. He alone is the Judge.
When we are talking about heaven and hell we better make certain that what we believe is true. Being sincere about or satisfied with your beliefs isn’t good enough. Even if all roads led to Rome, all religions do not lead to heaven. It does make a difference what you believe. It is not a matter of you being satisfied, but whether or not God is satisfied. Salvation is not in religion, but in the Redeemed. Christ alone is the way to eternal life!
