If Not God, Then Who, Or What?

I want to first make it clear that I don't claim to be a theological scholar, although I strive to be as educated in the Bible as I possibly can.  Most friends of mine will tell you I usually have a sideways point of view on some of the simplest items in life, but somehow get around to a logical point of view.  Somehow my "made up words" help me make a clear point. Keeping all this in mind, this is my point of view on the most important topic I can think of, "If not God, then who or what?"

I think it is intentional that the first four words of the Bible are, "In the beginning God...".  If we don’t begin everything we do with God, we cannot live up to our potential and the expectations that God has for us.  In my opinion, this is what is wrong with our society today.  We have allowed God to be taken out of just about every aspect of our lives.  Notice I use the phrase "We have allowed".  "We" being Christians, have been out worked by atheists, agnostics, and those of other faiths when it comes to God.  We no longer have the fear of God in our society. 

I saw a very interesting t-shirt one time.  I was following behind someone and on their shirt at the top it read, “Dear God, please do something about all the violence and shootings in our schools.  Sincerely, A concerned student.”  Then at the bottom it had God’s reply:  “Dear concerned student, I’m no longer allowed in schools.  Sincerely, God”.

The following are just a few statistics cited in a report led by David Barton, entitled "America: To Pray or Not to Pray".

A. Young People    

1. For 15 years before 1963 pregnancies in girls ages 15 through 19 years had been no more than 15 per thousand  After 1963 pregnancies increased 187% in the next 15 years.

2. For younger girls, ages 10 to 14 years, pregnancies since 1963 are up 553%.

3. Before 1963 sexually transmitted diseases among students were 400 per 100,000. They were up 226% in the next 12 years.

B. The Family 

1. Before 1963 divorce rates had been declining for 15 years. After 1963 divorces increased 300% each year for the next 15 years.

2. Since 1963 unmarried people living together is up 353%

3. Since 1963 single parent families with children are up 160%.

C. Education

1. The educational standard of measure has been the SAT scores. SAT scores had been steady for many years before 1963. From 1963 they rapidly declined for 18 consecutive years, even though the same test has been used since 1941.

2. In 1974-75 the rate of decline of the SAT scores decreased, even though they continued to decline. In those years, there was an explosion of private religious schools. There were only 1000 Christian schools in 1965. Between 1974 to 1984 they increased to 32,000.

     a. That would only have an impact if the private schools had higher SAT scores. In checking with the SAT Board it was found that indeed the SAT scores for private schools were nearly 100 points higher than public schools.

     b. In fact, the scores were back to the point where the public schools had been before their decline started in 1963 when prayer and Bible reading/ instruction was removed from the schools.

3. Of the nation's top academic scholars, three times as many come from private religious schools, which operate on one-third the funds as do the public schools.

D. The Nation

1. Since 1963 violent crime has increased 544%.

2. Illegal drugs have become an enormous & uncontrollable problem.

3. The nation has been deprived of an estimated 30 million citizens through legal abortions just since 1973.

All of those numbers are quite disturbing.  When are we going to wake up?  There are certain sections of our society that demand that the Ten Commandments be taken down in all government buildings.  Public Christmas displays are few and far between now because non-believers are offended.  Christian based businesses (Chik-Fil-A, Hobby Lobby, etc) are under attack by liberal groups and media.)  These are just a few examples of how society is trying to replace God as priority in our lives.  Why?  I’ll venture to answer that.  BECAUSE WE HAVE LET THEM!!!

We go right along with that idea.  We put everything else in our lives first.  We don’t pray enough.  We don’t stand up for God.  In my younger days I would wonder why He was allowing me to go through hard times and why I was going through tough stretches throughout my life.  I wasn't putting God first.  Most everyone asks those same questions sometime in their lives.  Well….. when have we ever stood up for God?  I mean really stood up for God?  We abandon God at every turn and put our jobs first, our school first, our video games first, our phones first, hello…..  We put alcohol first, pornography first, just look at the tv.  I was getting ready for church one morning, and I flipped through some channels and In Touch Ministries with Charles Stanley was on.  After it ended, the very next program that came on was some dangerous lobster fishing show or something and they were having to bleep out every other word these fellas was saying!  I mean hello, we just had some good preaching on, then the same channel has a show on with bad enough language they need to bleep it out?  I mean I might be dumb as a box or rocks but that isn’t right.

Even when we put God first, we are going to go through rough times.   So I'm not saying that it'll all be butterflies and rainbows when we submit to God.  Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

It says ALL things, not just good things.  So sometimes bad things happen that shape and mold us for the greater good.  ;)

The point is that we have let God down.  In Exodus he laid out the rules, the Ten Commandments.  Exodus 20:3, “Though shall have no other gods before Me.”.  In Matthew 6:33 it reads, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you.”  

Most of us walk through our vanilla lives just trying to get to the end of the day without having to "involve God".  We are all going to have to face Jesus someday.  How is your meeting with Him going to be?  Let me share with you what you don’t want to hear when you see Jesus face to face.  You don’t want to hear Jesus say, “Depart from me you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you.”.  It’ll be too late. (Mathew 7:23)  That’s it.  Over and done with.  If you’ve already been saved, but have unconfessed sin, He’s going to have you answer for it then.  Now I don’t know about ya’ll, but I remember how awful I felt when a coach, a teacher, or maybe my parents would say, “Son, you disappointed me.”.  That was always worse than any punishment that I could have received.  So you can multiply that feeling by an infinite amount for those of us that might have unconfessed sin or haven’t asked Jesus in our hearts at all.  Get it all under the blood and ask for forgiveness today while you still can!

This is just my 2 cents, but it's the most valuable 2 cents you've ever read.  Join me in this pledge today to start putting God first.  If you are unsaved, pray this prayer right now and notify a pastor in a church near you so you can follow up with baptism and grow as a part of God's kingdom:

"Oh God in Heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your Word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus' name. Amen."