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One often wonders why some people, when exposed to basically the same environment, education and other similar lifestyle circumstances, choose to believe entirely different things when ir comes to philosophy and/or religion.
God intended it to be that one could choose of his own free will, and followers of Him have no right to try and force anything else on any man. There are consequences of choice one may make and it is necessary to weigh the good and the bad when making a choice. One of the ancient Jewish patriarchs and leader of the Jews for a period, made it very clear, even then, that one had to make a choice and was perfectly free to do so.
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15 KJV)
Not all people have been free to openly believe, or at least proclaim, a certain philosophy or in a god, or the God. Many have tried to force their beliefs on others which has resulted in persecutions, wars and deaths.
I recently read a comment by an unbeliever who said, that even though the God of the bible supposedly allowed men free moral agency, that it seemed there was no freedom to it, in that to choose to oppose God and his instructions was to destine one to everlasting punishment. The rewards and the punishments are clearly laid out in the Holy Bible and it is true, rich rewards are available for obedience and horrible punishment for disobedience. And it seems very foolish to me, that one would choose the avenue of disobedience. But, one is free to choose and far more choose the side of the punishment, than the side to eternal salvation. So you are completely free to make your decision, You have the right to be wrong.
And herein is where the puzzling part of some who have lived under the same basic circumstances, will choose one side, some the other. The true atheist belief is inconsistent. The word itself is a declaration that there is no god. Theist means one who says there is a God, and the prefix "a" reverses the thought and means there is no God. They cannot prove it so actually their claim is unfounded since they would have to know all there is to be known in order to make such a declaration. The agnostic is more understandable because they admit that one cannot know whether or not there is a God. However, they normally act as if there is none which is a strong indication they do not believe there is such.
There are numerous things which cause different outlooks towards God, the Bible or His Son, Jesus. Some are taught that there is no god from their childhood and find that they have no reason to change that. Others have questioned the existence of Jehovah God for various reasons. Often atheists will insist that to accept God is superstition and there are some who take that accusation as meaning they are ignorant. They come to find it embarrassing and consequently will begin to find evidences against the accuracy of the Bible. They will find some verses which they assume are contradictions so that furnishes them the "proof" they need to discredit it.
There are others who find that striving to live the life of a true Christian is much to restrictive for their enjoyment so will also start trying to find reasons for not accepting it. So actually, if one desires to believe in God, or any other god, they can easily sway themselves into a position of unbelief.
One of the more common reasons that some give for not accepting Jehovah as God, is the world full of pain and suffering. They say a God of love would not have created such. Well, He is a loving God and He did build this world...exactly as he wanted it. And, of course they will come back and say, we ll he certainly couldn't be a loving God then if He has caused all this suffering. A verse of scripture sizes up that attitude quite well:
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9 KJV)
That, of course, is not enough to make the complainer happy. But, people often try to think of a world as a utopia, and that God should have built it so. Oddly, He has promised us such a place for our eternal reward. But people have to consider why God created this earthly dwelling place and why he created man.
The eternal purpose of Godhead was to create an environment which offered a highly diverse set of circumstances and conditions. This environment would offer man different levels of comfort, discomforts, pains, health and disease. He would also require a strict level of obedience to His rules of conduct for man. The reasons for His creating these creatures and these circumstances are revealed in the following scriptures.
"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" (Ephesians 1:4 KJV)
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1 KJV)
Now, whether or not one likes to hear those terms, is irrelevant. God is our creator, our superior, and our sustainer. He made us, He owns us and if you care to defy Him, so be it. He created you to have that privilege. His promises are good, they are true, and if we wish to spend eternity in a truly utopian arrangement, we have the opportunity. So as the earlier quotation of Joshua above, choose ye this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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