Truth or Consequences
Truth or Consequences was a game show on TV during my youth. The object of the game was for the contestants to answer a question correctly or they had to pay the consequences and perform an embarrassing stunt. Sometimes it was quite disgusting, other times amusing. But in life not following or not understanding the truth can lead to consequences that may be detrimental to your life, health and possibly eternal joy or misery. Distinguishing the truth is an integral part of our social makeup. normally we do this by some form of rational thought. We want to know who is telling the truth and who is not, as a basis on what we believe and don’t believe. Trying to prove what was true is how I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. Surprisingly, I started out trying to prove that Jesus was a fool and a liar and that God was dead.
While in my early years in high school I wanted to go to college and become a history teacher but when I became the product of a broken home, that dream fell through real fast. I ended up going to work to help support my mother and younger sister. A couple of years after high school I married my high school sweetheart. I still wanted an education of some sort. So after marriage we used some of our income to purchase self-help books.
We bought a set of Encyclopedia Britannica and the Harvard Classics. I subscribed to Psychology Today Magazine and became a member of their book club. I soon became very familiar with Freud, Fromm, Jung and B. F. Skinner and with the philosophies of Kant, Huxley, Bertrand Russell, etc. I was on my way to becoming a pseudo-intellectual. And I was part of the ” God is Dead” philosophy. During this period of my pseudo-intellectualism a young man was hired for the summer at the place where I was working. His parents were missionary Bible translators in Mexico and he claimed to be a born-again Christian. His name was Dan. And he became mockingly nicknamed brother Dan because of a questionable program that was on a religious radio station in the Pittsburgh area called, Brother Dan and Sister Ann, anyway, as brother Dan and I worked together on the second and third shifts our spare time became a religious battleground. I was determined to prove that brother Dan was full of it. And he was trying to show me the love of God in its own calm way. I had grown up attending the United Methodist Church. I went to Sunday school and went to church once in awhile so I knew all the stories: Noah and the Ark, Abraham and Isaac, Joseph and his colored coat, Daniel and the lion’s den, David and Goliath, Jesus’ parables, Paul the missionary etc. But they had no impact on me. Now I was full of philosophical and psychological knowledge. I knew I could prove this guy wrong in no time. But every time I made my comments and contradictions, Brother Dan always had an answer. He said, “this is what the Bible says: Read the Bible.” So I did along with a few other books that he suggested. Soon it became apparent that the stuff I was reading in philosophy and psychology had twisted and distorted what the Bible said about certain matters. For example, Bertrand Russell in his essay “Why I am not a Christian” States this: “family affection was decried by Jesus himself and by the bulk of his followers…” He says, He (Christ) has come to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and he that loves his father and mother more than Him it’s not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:35-37). All this means the breakup of the biological family for the sake of a creed – an attitude which had a great deal to do with the intolerance that came into the world with the spread of Christianity.”
This may sound quite intellectual philosophically. But it is a far cry from the truth when you study what Bible says about the family unit. I realized that these people weren’t just giving wrong opinions they were outright lying. After a while my conversations with Dan were no longer controversial they were inquiring. I learned that I’m a sinner not just in thought word and deed, but also that mankind as a whole is in a depraved condition and we cannot reach God by our own merits. I learned that God loved me and Jesus, who is really his only son, was sent to pay the punishment for my sins not only mine but the sins of everyone. No other book of any religion speaks of true love for mankind from God as the Bible does. I learned that all I had to do was believe that Jesus was who he said he was and believe if I ask him to forgive me of my sins, He would give me eternal life from that very moment. My quest to prove what was true had brought me to the realization of what is really true and it saved me from the consequence of an eternity without God. I could have been cast into a burning outer darkness by my own decision. Think about it! An eternity without God, an eternity without sharing in the joy of what God has planned for each of our lives. I prayed a simple prayer like the one that is at the end of this paper and asked Jesus to save me, and He did. He can save you too. Don’t let intellectualism, self pride or other pursuits keep you from finding God. Read the Bible. It’s not believing ABOUT God it’s believing God. Find out for yourself. John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but through me.” That’s the truth and he has proved it in my life.
First Steps To Destiny:
- Acknowledge that you need Jesus. ( John 14:6)
- The Bible says that everyone is sinful and separated from God without Christ. (Romans 3:23)
- But God demonstrated His great love for us in that while we were still sinners Jesus Christ, God’s son died for us (Romans 5:8)
- If you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
Accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord
Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life by indwelling me with the Holy Spirit. Make me the person You want me to be. In Jesus name. Amen
Next steps to Destiny:
- Join a life-giving local church (See below)
- Read the owner’s manual (the Bible ) daily, you could begin with the book of John. (Acts 17:11)
- Talk to God about everything. (1 Thess. 5:17)
- Share God’s love with others (Matthew 4:19)
- Allow the Holy Spirit to lead and empower you in Christian service (Galatians 5:16-17)
- Trust God for every detail of your life. (1 Peter 5:7)
- Strive to obey God moment by moment. (John 14:21)
- Persevere in Christ-Win the race. ( 1 Cor. 9:24)
