"Without God and without hope in the world ..."

" ... without God and without hope in the world"  (Ephesians 2:12).

What a horrible way to start the new year - but thousands ... millions, will not only start the new year that way, but will face the trials and struggles of life "without God and without hope in the world."  And, if God graciously gives them another year of life, they will use it to dishonor Him or to ignore Him or even to attack those who know and love and serve Him.  Not being satisfied to live without God and without hope themselves, they will attempt to lure others into the spiritual darkness that surrounds them.

It has been a busy two weeks, a busy month, a busy year!  But sharing God's truth in this world where truth seems to be harder and harder to find is vitally important, so I am going to try to do that on this blog as often as possible as we head into the new year.  It's not that I have so many important things to say ... but GOD does.  He has spoken through His Word, and people need to hear what God has to say.

I am increasingly amazed at the utter ignorance of people who act like they know something, when in reality they know nothing.  Like the woman who is quoted in a newspaper saying that even though she is not religious, she wants her children to be exposed to religious people because she will probably run across some of them in school and in other places in her life and she will need to know how to "deal with them."  In her supposed wisdom she states that all children should be exposed to various religious beliefs, but that they also need to be given the option of choosing the alternatives: agnosticism, humanism and atheism.  She then proceeds to say that she will live by "the Golden Rule:" Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (a religious "creed" if I ever heard one!).  She reminded me of John Lennon in the lyrics of his song, "Imagine."  The song went, in part, as follows:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

Lennon then invited people to join him in his quest to find this world that was free from religion and God and sin.  Of course, the problem is that this world doesn't exist except in the imagination of people who have already sealed their fate by rejecting God's offer of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ.  The woman who wants children exposed to agnosticism, humanism and atheism doesn't realize that these are just more man-made religions that worship self and the things of this world and that ultimately lead to eternal death.  But she wouldn't know that because she doesn't believe there is anything after this life ... "without God and without hope in this world."  Lennon at least was honest when he said, "Imagine all the people living for today."  That's what someone else said a long time ago, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die."  Or, in the words of another old song, "If that's all there is, then let's keep dancing, let's break out the booze and have a ball."  

" ... without God and without hope in the world."  It's a bad way to start a new year.  It's a bad way to live life.  It's a bad way to face death and what comes afterwards.  The God these people do not know offers something so much better.  We'll talk about that in the days ahead.