Life As A Non-Believer

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Recently, I became friends with someone whose father is an atheist. Being raised in a church, I thought to myself, "How could anyone ever deny the presence of God?"

The deeper I thought, I began to analyze my own life and choices and realized that I had actually been atheist for the majority of my life as well. The reality is that some people reject the presence of God with their mouths and others in their actions.

I began to think, "What would make someone totally reject the possibility of there being a God?"

"20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], " Romans 1:20 AMPC   

I realized that the problem came from people like myself that pretended to worship God with their mouths but rejected Him in their actions and the way that they treat others.

"8 These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me. 9 Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men. " Matthew 15:8-9 AMPC

The truth is that it doesn't take a magnifying glass to clearly see through the holes in most of our so-called "faith".

If I'm being honest, up until recently, I myself attempted to use God as a good-luck charm to my own personal desires and dreams. If I truly believed that God existed, would I really think that I could just use Him to get what I wanted? That the Creator of the universe and every living thing would bend His will and desires to fit mine?

"14 Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth also, with all that is in it and on it." Deuteronomy 10:14 AMPC

Imagine if we went to the White House and made a list of demands to the President and expected him to drop everything on a moment's notice to cater to us. For a majority of my life, this was my idea of God. Even after the horrific death of His Son, Jesus, I believed that God still only cared about my comfort and convenience.

"24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]." Matthew 16:24 AMPC

The truth is that in the middle of telling so many people about "god", I was completely denying who He was myself, thinking that it was His duty to cater to me and what I wanted. My focus was never on the wants and desires of God, but only the wants and desires of myself.

"16 They profess to know God [to recognize, perceive, and be acquainted with Him], but deny and disown and renounce Him by what they do; they are detestable and loathsome, unbelieving and disobedient and disloyal and rebellious, and [they are] unfit and worthless for good work (deed or enterprise) of any kind. " Titus 1:16 AMPC

As believers, Jesus says to seek first the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, many of us who claim to be loyal servants of God seek profit more than we seek God. We are supposed to be so captivated in living for God that anything outside of His will doesn't even interest us.

"33 But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." Matthew 6:33 AMPC

Unfortunately, for most of us if we can't profit from what we are doing, we simply choose to leave things undone -- leaving the government of this world to solve problems that the Bible says falls on the Church.

"35 For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me, 36 I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me. 37 Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You? 39 And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You? 40 And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least [in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me." Matthew 25:35-40 AMPC

We have manipulated the Gospel so much that we believe that the richer you are, the closer to God you are. When the truth is, the Bible says it is harder for the rich men of this world to make it into heaven at all.

"21 Jesus answered him, If you would be perfect [that is, have that spiritual maturity which accompanies self-sacrificing character], go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me]. 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:21-24 AMPC

Why would we judge how blessed, or close to God, we are by the acquisition of the same material things that Jesus would often ask His followers to get rid of? We believe that it is God's will for us to be blessed with many material possessions even though Jesus Himself says that if anything takes your focus off of God, to get rid of it, even if that thing happens to be your eyeball.

"29 If your right eye serves as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be cast into hell (Gehenna)." Matthew 5:29 AMPC

Our attitude is that the level of success we have in this world is an indication of the success of our relationship with a God that lives outside of this world -- which couldn't be further from the truth.

5 Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him.2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:3 Blessed (happy, [a]to be envied, and [b]spiritually prosperous—[c]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!4 Blessed and enviably happy [with a [d]happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!5 Blessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, [e]spiritually prosperous—[f]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!6 Blessed and fortunate and happy and [g]spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God [h]enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be [i]completely satisfied!7 Blessed (happy, [j]to be envied, and [k]spiritually prosperous—[l]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!8 Blessed (happy, [m]enviably fortunate, and [n]spiritually prosperous—possessing the [o]happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!9 Blessed (enjoying [p]enviable happiness, [q]spiritually prosperous—[r]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and [s] maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!10 Blessed and happy and [t]enviably fortunate and [u]spiritually prosperous [v](in the state in which the born-again child of God enjoys and finds satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of his outward conditions) are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!11 Blessed (happy, [w]to be envied, and [x]spiritually prosperous—[y]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.12 Be glad and supremely joyful, for your reward in heaven is great (strong and intense), for in this same way people persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:5-12 AMPC

If I'm being honest, I have not met many people that have solid evidence of their actual relationship with God, just a ton that partake in weekly, religious activities and simple traditions that everyone follows.

In the Bible, we see that the name Christian comes from a group of people who are acting like Christ. The belief of Jesus ever existing has slowly began to fade from society because most people can no longer see the characteristics of Christ inside of a lot of today's believers. The sad truth is that God does exist, but unfortunately He is hard to find in the lives and hearts of most people that spend their weekends talking and singing about Him.

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Question of the Day: Have you convinced people that God is real based off of your talk or your walk?