God's Dilemma, Part I

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." (1)

"Millions of people have discovered that God reveals Himself to those who seek Him. Or to put it another way, He will come to you if you let Him. Maybe you wonder why you need to 'let' God do anything? Doesn't God do whatever He wants? No, God is not a bully. He does not force Himself upon us, even though He could. He is pictured in the last book of the Bible as One who stands at the door and knocks. But we have to open the door.

"Why should God care about me, you ask? Well, why does any parent care about a child? You are a child of God, and God loves you and wants to save you. Wait, you say, what on earth does that mean? Why do Christians talk about being saved? What do I need to be saved from? I feel fine. I'm healthy, have a good job, a few friends. Okay, I'm a little overweight, I have a few problems, but I can deal with them, Why do I need God?

"If any of us could live forever on our own, maybe we could get along without God. However, that hasn't happened yet, and by the account of what we observe everyday it apparently isn't about to happen. Benjamin Franklin was right when he said one of the sure things about life, is death.

"Since life comes from God, and He declares He would like us to live forever, we need Him if we want to live. Through the Apostle Peter, God declares that He is not willing for anyone to perish, but wants everyone to choose for Him and life. (2) He let's us have a choice about that. But the choice must come before we die. Once we're dead it's too late to decide about the future. So depending on the choices we make now, we may spend the rest of forever in a world of love and peace and beauty or we can choose to miss out on all those blessings.

"From our point of view the choice is about life. However, since we do not have life without God, the choice is really our being for or against God. Our choices declare whether we acknowledge Him and honor Him or reject Him and dishonor Him.

"How much time do you want to spend with somebody who openly declares that they do not appreciate you and really don't want to be around you? We usually avoid those people and places where we are not wanted. Still, you are probably at least a little sad to be rejected.

"When people choose against God, they place Him in a similar situation. And God is too gracious and too considerate to impose Himself on anyone who chooses to go it on their own and spurn His eternal love and support. So He has no choice but to let them choose against Him. And God cannot - He will not - give a forever comfortable life to anyone who doesn't want it. They would not be comfortable in His environment and that would make for unhappiness in a place that is destined to only experience love, joy, peace, and praise.

"This choice for or against God identifies all of us as either believers or sinners. Believers live to honor Him and please Him, while sinners have no qualms about rejecting Him and offending Him." (3) To be Continued.

1. Revelation 3:20.
2. 2 Peter 3:9.
3. Things God Can Do With Ashes, pp. 12, 13.