the god choice

By stan grummett

For millennia, people of many cultures and religions have looked to the Ten Commandments as the ultimate moral compass for life, a yardstick for measuring your success or failure as a human being, a checklist for predicting your prospects for eternity. What if life isn't about doing or not doing? What if life is about making the right choice, th

• Language: English
• Publisher: stan grummett
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781988680118

Book preview

PREFACE

a check-list?

Boldly the young man approached the throng. Obediently they separated to make way for him. His inherited authority demanded it. Near the center of the crowd, he saw the teacher. Interrupting the ongoing conversation, he asked, What more must I do?

Don’t you know?  The teacher responded. Be faithful! Don’t kill! Don’t steal! Don’t lie and obey your parents! I’ve already done all that, The young man countered.

With a compassionate gaze, ¹ the teacher replied, Have you? Well, there is still one more thing. Give away your possessions and follow me!

Ouch! Those words stung like a bee. Their command was too difficult for him to keep. His confidence quickly deflated like a pricked balloon. Head down, utterly defeated; the rich young ruler departed for home. ²

Now that is the kind of conversation you don’t hear very often unless you are at the bedside of a terminally ill patient, facing their imminent departure from this world. Or perhaps you are at a funeral home, seeking to comfort those who fret the fate of their dearly departed.

He was a good person.

She lived a good, full life.

"He did so many good things for others.

Yet, no matter what is said, there still lingers a nagging doubt and a troubling uncertainty. Did they do enough?

What do I still lack? ³ the young man asked?

For millennia, the Ten Commandments ⁴  have been held out as the (ultimate) moral compass. They have been the yardstick by which you measure your success or failure as a human being, or, to put it another way, the checklist by which you can assess your prospects for eternity. But what if life isn’t about matching the standard they set or completing the to-do list they offer? What if it is really about making the right choice?

CHAPTER ONE

or a choice!

Choices. We make them every day. What to eat? What to wear? What to do? Then there are those life-changing choices, the ones that determine the path we take, and thus as well, our final destination.

But the god choice is different. It doesn’t determine our path so much as it does the companion with whom we will walk on that path. Remember what the teacher said: Sell everything … then come and follow me. ⁵

A feeling of discomfort broke into his peaceful slumber. The soft warmth of the linen that now enveloped him had become damp and cold. But within, there was an even more urgent concern, a gnawing pain that grew with intensity until he could no longer ignore it.

His life had quickly changed. A short while ago, he had drifted weightless and warm in a carefree idyllic world. All his needs had been met, and any fear had been lulled aside by that soothingly familiar sound. lub-dub, lub-dub.

Suddenly his world had collapsed around him. He had been pressed upon, then expelled from paradise into a harsh world of contrasts: light and darkness, hot and cold, wet and dry; a place where even sound, once soft and muted, was now sharp and intense.

That gnawing pain became more intense, creating a feeling of alarm, then panic. It was as if his body was trying to consume itself. Instinctively, he filled his lungs, and out of his mouth, a guttural, timeless cry emerged. Ever so quickly, he heard that soothing, familiar voice. He sensed he was being lifted then rewrapped into a new, soft, warm shell. But the pain remained. He let out another cry. It, too, was soon smothered as his mouth was pressed to warm flesh. He heard that familiar lub-dub again. He instinctively sucked and soon tasted a warm sweet fluid. As he drank deep, the pain began to subside. Feelings of peace and security returned. He drifted off to sleep again.

In the coming days, the cycle was repeated over and over again. Hunger, cry, consume, slumber, and with this, the worship began.

"And God ⁶ spoke all these words: I am the LORD ⁷ your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." ⁸

Notice anything peculiar about this first commandment? In the Bible, God clearly states, There is no god besides me. ⁹ Statisticians suggest half the world’s population is attached to a religion that believes there is only one god ¹⁰. If true, should we not be asking this question? A question even an atheist might dare to ask? Who are these other gods?

The Garden of Eden story hints at an answer. Adam ¹¹ and Eve ¹² are customarily pictured beside an apple tree ¹³, pondering the important life decision they must make. Obey? or disobey? Do they obey God’s command not to eat, or do they yield to the serpent’s temptation and taste the forbidden fruit. But is this decision really about obedience?

Read the account carefully, and you will discover there were actually two trees at the center of the garden. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. ¹⁴ God had told Adam and Eve they could freely eat of the former, but not of the latter. ¹⁵

Thus the decision Adam and Eve faced was not about obedience but rather a choice. They could choose to trust that God would continue to provide all they needed in life, or they could yield to the temptation and fear that they might be missing out on something. In the end, they chose to trust in themselves, as the serpent put it, to "be like God." ¹⁶

So who is that other god? The next time you are in front of a mirror, take a good look. And while you’re looking, pause to consider the choice that is before you. But, before you do, there are a few things you need to know about yourself and God. In particular, there is a fundamental problem with that mirror-god. Simply put, human beings are not god material.

The Bible says God is timeless ¹⁷ and eternal. ¹⁸   In an earlier footnote, you may have noticed His very name: Yehovah, or Yahweh, proclaims this. In Hebrew, it means I AM who I AM. God’s very name, I AM, implies that God alone existed before the beginning of time. Likewise, at the end of time, and even beyond, He will continue to be. ¹⁹   We human beings, on the other hand, are temporal. We are locked in time, with a past beginning and a future end. ²⁰

The Bible also says God is perfect. ²¹ Indeed, God sets the standard for perfection. Anything less than God’s perfection is called sin. ²² Whether we choose to admit it, we all sin because we all fall short of perfection; that is God. ²³ We may think we are like God, but we are all tragically flawed. We fail to be all we could be, all we would like to be, and all we were created to be. You might say if God is the great I AM, we mirror-gods are but pale imitations; nothing more than mere i ams. ²⁴

Finally, the Bible reveals that GOD is a sacrificial lover. ²⁵ He chose to surrender His own interests to provide for the needs of those He loves. ²⁶ Sadly, when faced with the reality of our mortality, humans are driven by an inner compulsion to do what we must do to simply go on living. Darwin & Spencer labeled this the survival of the fittest. ²⁷

There is something else worth mentioning. Way back in the 5th century AD, Augustine wrote this of God:

You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. ²⁸

As if embedded in our DNA, we are hard-wired to worship. Pascal described it as a "god-shaped vacuum that seeks to be filled." ²⁹ Don’t you believe me? Then kindly explain why are we so willing and quick to lavish riches and praise upon our sports heroes, movie stars, and even our political and economic leaders? Admit it! We human beings are driven to worship.

Long ago, the psalmist observed, those who seek God will praise God. ³⁰ In other words, from the context of today’s culture, as we seek (our) god, we will praise (worship) (our) god. But, here’s the real question. How does one worship a god who is flawed?

CHAPTER TWO

a crutch?

"Here, Nacham, ³¹ come here," his mother called out. Her arms were outstretched to him, but the expanse between them loomed large and foreboding.

He had become quite adept at maneuvering on two feet but only if pushing his trusty stool out in front of him. It offered the security, the support, and the safety from falling that he craved.

Not with your stool Nacham, his mother beckoned. Walk to me, trust me, and I'll catch you!

Would she do as promised? She had always been there for him before. But this? He knew about his stool. It was tangible, tried, and true. His mother's abilities were an unseen, unknown commodity. Should he trust her? Should he take a step of faith into the unknown?

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God." ³²

Idols? We don’t worship idols! We’re too sophisticated. We live in an enlightened, technologically advanced society. I wonder, are we really?

The psychologist Lawrence Crabb has identified two pivotal needs that all human beings long for; security and significance. ³³ We quest to find security in a dangerous world and avoid our eventual demise as long as possible. We also seek to find a measure of significance amidst the sea of humanity around us. We long to obtain an element of the eternal so that long after we are gone, others will still remember us.

So how do idols fit into this equation? The Bible ³⁴ says an idol is anything we fashion from this physical world around us. Unlike God, who we can not perceive and know through our five senses, the world is a familiar, comfortable choice. When Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, he first challenged Him to satisfy His hunger by turning stones into bread. Jesus countered that physical bread alone could not meet all the needs and longings we have in life. ³⁵ But of course, we stubbornly refuse to believe that. We choose to believe instead that an inanimate idol can satisfy the spiritual yearnings of our soul. Thus, as the psalmist notes, we willingly permit a role reversal to take place.

Those who make them (idols) will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. ³⁶

As we make sacrifices and begin to change our life priorities, we eventually allow the idol to control us. With this, the creator begins to worship his own creation. Then, finally and tragically, as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein ³⁷ suggests, the creation brings about the destruction of its own creator. While the idol gains a life of its own, we, in turn, lose ours.

Sounds rather foolish, doesn’t it? Why would anyone choose to bow down and worship something they created themselves? Well, you need to understand it isn’t the idol you are worshipping. The idol is really just a diversion or a smokescreen. By focusing your worship on the idol, you can ignore and forget your own faults, failures, fears, and insecurities. Truth be told, you are still just worshipping self. But somehow, by channeling your attention through an idol, self becomes more palatable, more acceptable and appealing, and thus more worthy of worship.

But if we know that self is flawed deep down, why don’t we opt to worship God instead? The problem with choosing God is that it requires a step of faith ³⁸ into the unknown.

The Bible describes faith this way:

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ³⁹

Faith involves seeing a reality that is only visible to those who look with eyes of faith. In the case of God, faith requires that we see a spiritual reality that remains hidden to those who simply use the human senses we were born with.

No wonder so many opt to trust in what they already know, what they can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel instead. They think they are avoiding that step of faith into the unknown. But are they really?

Given the evidence all around us, one could argue, trusting in self requires just as much, if not more faith, than simply trusting in God. Three thousand years ago, King David ⁴⁰ came to this conclusion. Having observed the contrast between the lives of the saints whose witness was a delight and the increasing sorrows of those who ran after other gods ⁴¹, he boldly declared his choice:

I said to the Lord; you are my Lord; apart from you, I have no good thing. ⁴²

Look around at the lives of those who have chosen to turn their backs on God. For that matter, if you have made the same choice, take an honest look at your own life. Ask yourself: Is your devotion to self paying back the blessings and dividends you were expecting? Or is your life unraveling before your eyes?  And if so, why are you continuing to trust in a god who leaves you empty-handed?

Now, of course, some of you will say: But I do believe in God. Do you? Do you really believe in Him? Is your faith focused and centered in Him and Him alone? Do you trust Him in all things? There is an easy way to measure the depth of your belief, your faith, and your trust in God.

Tell me, do you worry? In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus ⁴³ suggested that if we genuinely believe that GOD loves us and deeply cares for us, we should have absolutely no reason to worry about anything. Indeed GOD promises that if we focus our trust in Him and seek to walk with Him, He will look after all the rest. ⁴⁴

You may say, I don’t have enough faith to do that. I would counter that you already have all the faith you need. The Apostle Mark ⁴⁵ tells the story of a man whose son was afflicted by convulsions caused by an evil spirit. He had taken the boy to the disciples, but they were unable to heal him. So the father appealed directly to Jesus.

If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.  If you can? Jesus replied. Everything is possible for him who believes.  To which the man cried, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" ⁴⁶

Jesus proceeded to heal the boy, which I suggest confirms this truth: even when we doubt that our faith is adequate, we show that our faith is sufficient. For did Jesus not say:

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can even move mountains. ⁴⁷

The issue is not how much faith you have but rather in whom have you chosen to invest the faith you already possess? Is it in self or GOD?

CHAPTER THREE

a curse?

Nacham, you haven’t finished your chores yet! His mother admonished. He had become preoccupied with his favorite toy and forgotten his daily duties.

I said I would do them, and I will. he rebutted.

That’s what you said an hour ago, and look, you haven’t even started them yet. You haven’t kept your word. You’ve broken your promise. She responded.

He could hear the disappointment in her voice. But why was she making such a big deal about this? He would get them done eventually. Didn’t his mother trust him?

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. ⁴⁸

Oh my god! There was a time when uttering these words would earn you a mouth full of soap. Today they’ve become merely a common, if not overused, expression of surprise or alarm.

There was a time when society offered a clearly delineated