Aug 08

One of the strange myths that people follow is that it is better to go to hell and be one's own god than to go to heaven and be forced to worship God.

The truth is, there is only one God. "I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5).

This truth, this reality, is rejected by those who do not want the Lord to be God.

"We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven" (Jer. 44:16,17).

This was the reply of the people to Jeremiah when he told them to worship God and not the popular idol of the day, the Queen of Heaven. They preferred a false vision of reality rather than the actual reality of God. They rejected the truth of reality to follow a strange myth.

People today are no different. I once stood in front of a roomful of prisoners in a jail, telling them the message of God much as Jeremiah did. When I was done, I opened up our Sunday evening service for questions, as was my usual
custom. One person in the back raised his hand and said, "Don't you think it's arrogant of God to demand that we worship him?"

My heart sank within me. I could not have asked for a clearer instance of someone with a totally false view of reality. Neither could I have asked for a clearer demonstration of where all such false views lead: This took place in a prison.

When we choose false reality instead of the true reality of God, we always end up in a prison of illusions rather than being free to live in the freedom of God's reality.

Scripture for today: 1 Peter 3:18, 19
Thought for today: False reality imprisons the spirit. The true reality of Jesus sets it free.
Prayer for today: Lord, free me from any false realities which I follow, and set my spirit free. Thank you.

AUG 08