Blaise Pascal posited there was a "vacuum in man's heart that only God can fill"; Augustine of Hippo wrote in Confessions, "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee." Man is on a great quest for shalom or peace of mind in manifold ways (with God, others, himself, etc.). We all need fulfillment to feel we are important and are making a difference in the world, a mark, impression, or impact on others. He has sought to find relief in religion, education, culture, entertainment, philosophy, a higher standard of living, political freedom, and materialism or success such as the American dream, but he is still empty, just as Dr. Carl Jung said that the "central neurosis of man is emptiness." Man seeks to find fulfillment in many things to occupy his boredom, for "The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation," according to Henry David Thoreau. There's the rub!
Pascal said quite paradoxically: "If a man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God? If a man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?" What a dilemma we're in! We have been called Homo religious, or the religious being, our nature. Just as we are hard-wired for work, we also are meant to worship God, and if we fail to, we will worship something even anything, but never nothing! The leading school of thought is nihilism growthwise among the intelligentsia, and they teach man has no ultimate meaning or purpose to exist--essentially faith in nothing supposedly. But men are not capable of worshiping nothing; they will resort to worshiping something, even themselves in narcissism.
But no man is religion or worship free, but finds substitutes for God in his life. That is the essence of idolatry--worship of something or someone in God's place, as well as having a faulty understanding of God--either putting Him in a box or limiting Him in some other manner, all because God is a jealous God and demands worship in spirit and in truth. We must beware lest our thoughts of God become too human!
Just like Christians are content and "happy customers" of Jesus, so the infidel seeks a life without God and will grasp at straws, though even as he clutches they disappear--to be happy apart from God in escapism. The consequences of unbelief are a life lived in vain and a frantic search for happiness in things, or other relationships without God as the center. We must believe in God to be happy and content, and if we don't believe in God, we will believe in anything and maybe even everything that comes our way, for God will send great delusion to believe the lie and we will become captive to the devil to do his will (cf. 2 Tim. 2:26), if perhaps God may not grant the grace of freedom.
That is why gullible and credulous people believe in anything out there like astrology, magic, UFOs, etc., because they don't believe in God and their faith is misdirected! I mean really believe in Him with the heart in a personal relationship, not just acknowledging His existence or having a head belief. The saying that GIGO is validated: garbage in equals garbage out! We need the anchor of Christ in our soul to shield us from Satan's lies and false doctrines of strange teachings (cf. Heb. 13:9).
You can't talk to some people about spiritual things because they have no interest. Actually, if you can switch the topic to heavenly matters for only a few minutes you may save a soul! Most have their mind on earthly matters, including believers, and are distracted or have their interests divided. They seem to think that God is dead in the sense of not being relevant or necessary to explain reality.
But without God life makes no sense (you cannot answer life's ultimate questions and issues) and there is no purpose in living, no meaning in life and nothing to live for but to be an animal in heat, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain! All because they are taught they are animals it isn't any wonder they want to live like them or the other way around--they believe their animals and end up acting like them as a consequence--we shouldn't be surprised.
It's been said by Dostoevsky that "if there is no God, all things are permissible." Kant said that God must exist for ethics to be possible! Does man just want to find out that all he can do is "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow he may die?" (cf. Isa. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32). To state his contentment, on the other hand, Paul had learned to be content in all things (cf. Phil. 4:11) and said quite glibly, "I am what I am by the grace of God." (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10.) Soli Deo Gloria!
Pascal said quite paradoxically: "If a man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God? If a man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?" What a dilemma we're in! We have been called Homo religious, or the religious being, our nature. Just as we are hard-wired for work, we also are meant to worship God, and if we fail to, we will worship something even anything, but never nothing! The leading school of thought is nihilism growthwise among the intelligentsia, and they teach man has no ultimate meaning or purpose to exist--essentially faith in nothing supposedly. But men are not capable of worshiping nothing; they will resort to worshiping something, even themselves in narcissism.
But no man is religion or worship free, but finds substitutes for God in his life. That is the essence of idolatry--worship of something or someone in God's place, as well as having a faulty understanding of God--either putting Him in a box or limiting Him in some other manner, all because God is a jealous God and demands worship in spirit and in truth. We must beware lest our thoughts of God become too human!
Just like Christians are content and "happy customers" of Jesus, so the infidel seeks a life without God and will grasp at straws, though even as he clutches they disappear--to be happy apart from God in escapism. The consequences of unbelief are a life lived in vain and a frantic search for happiness in things, or other relationships without God as the center. We must believe in God to be happy and content, and if we don't believe in God, we will believe in anything and maybe even everything that comes our way, for God will send great delusion to believe the lie and we will become captive to the devil to do his will (cf. 2 Tim. 2:26), if perhaps God may not grant the grace of freedom.
That is why gullible and credulous people believe in anything out there like astrology, magic, UFOs, etc., because they don't believe in God and their faith is misdirected! I mean really believe in Him with the heart in a personal relationship, not just acknowledging His existence or having a head belief. The saying that GIGO is validated: garbage in equals garbage out! We need the anchor of Christ in our soul to shield us from Satan's lies and false doctrines of strange teachings (cf. Heb. 13:9).
You can't talk to some people about spiritual things because they have no interest. Actually, if you can switch the topic to heavenly matters for only a few minutes you may save a soul! Most have their mind on earthly matters, including believers, and are distracted or have their interests divided. They seem to think that God is dead in the sense of not being relevant or necessary to explain reality.
But without God life makes no sense (you cannot answer life's ultimate questions and issues) and there is no purpose in living, no meaning in life and nothing to live for but to be an animal in heat, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain! All because they are taught they are animals it isn't any wonder they want to live like them or the other way around--they believe their animals and end up acting like them as a consequence--we shouldn't be surprised.
It's been said by Dostoevsky that "if there is no God, all things are permissible." Kant said that God must exist for ethics to be possible! Does man just want to find out that all he can do is "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow he may die?" (cf. Isa. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32). To state his contentment, on the other hand, Paul had learned to be content in all things (cf. Phil. 4:11) and said quite glibly, "I am what I am by the grace of God." (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10.) Soli Deo Gloria!
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