God is real,

so live like it.

It is astonishing how many people nowadays give little to no thought at all about God. They go on with their lives, maybe dabbling in a bit of religion here and a little philosophy there, just enough to fill their fancy. They attribute the beauty of this world to 'mother nature' (whoever the heck she is) and disregard the complexity, order, and design of the universe as pure chance (like that's somehow rational?). They have no adequate answers for evil and can't even explain the moral 'ought' they know to be true within themselves. They focus on life and forget about the fact that they will die. As my grandfather says, "Statistics show that ten out of ten people die." Frankly, people just don't care. But they should care. They need to care. Because God is real. He has revealed Himself in creation and His Word!

Perhaps the more sobering thought, though, is for those of us who do believe in this reality of God. We should care far more about these things! Many of us claim God to be true and 'worship' Him on Sundays, but then operate like practical atheists every other day of the week - worrying and whining, bored and bewildered, sorrowful and selfish. Such living is unacceptable. It is incongruent. It will not do because it is a failure to understand that His reality informs and infuses life with meaning. It's about time that people, who claim Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord, start being consistent with that claim. What I mean is - what we know to be true about God in His Word needs to influence how we deal with every issue of life. If we believe God to be merciful, we should be merciful. If we believe God to be slow to anger, we should be slow to anger. If we believe God to be holy and just, we ought to be holy and just. If we believe God to be all-knowing and all-powerful, we ought to be free of anxiety. If we believe God to be gracious and good, why then are we not rejoicing always?

May we who know God, through Jesus Christ, rely on His Holy Spirit to help us apply His real truth to our real lives, to practice what we preach. Because then, and only then, God is glorified and people are influenced.