By GARY ANDREWS
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I remember a story of a young atheist who took a theology of faith course in a northern university. This young man was looking for God and on the last day of class he asked his professor if he will ever find him. The professor answered, “No, but I am absolutely certain He will find you.”
The young man went on about his life and quit searching for God. At the age of 24 he was diagnosed with terminal cancer which changed his mode of thinking. He revisited his college professor and told him that God had found him.
The young man decided he really didn’t care anything about God and decided that he would do something productive with his life. He told his professor that it is an essential sadness to go through life without loving. He also realized that it would be equally sad if he left this world without telling those he loved that he loved them.
How many of us today have this same story? How trivial it is for us to hold a grudge against family members, friends, or others we don’t even know without talking with these people. Most of the time the differences we have are going to be very insignificant and over some petty misspoken words or deeds.
The young man related to his professor that the professor’s words to him were correct. He told him that even though he quit searching for God; God found him. He realized that the surest way of finding God is not to make Him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love.
When we love we find a life that is more beautiful that eyes have ever seen, ears have ever heard, or the mind ever imagined. Our most precious possession that we can ever have, and it is a free gift, is the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ. All of us need to remember that God is love!
Along these same lines we need to understand that the most destructive habit we can have is to worry. Our greatest joy is giving; our greatest loss is self-respect and our most satisfying work is helping others. The greatest problem for us to overcome is fear and the worst thing to be without is hope. We need to realize that the deadliest weapon is the tongue, the most worthless possession is self-pity, and the most crippling disease is excuses.
Our greatest asset is faith and the most contagious spirit is enthusiasm. Our most beautiful attire is a smile, our most prized possession is integrity, and our most powerful channel of communication is prayer.
Just as God found the young man with a terrible cancer, the man changed his thoughts and lifestyle from one of no hope to one of love. Love is what makes the world go round and the quicker we realize this the more comfortable we will be with our own lifestyle.
Prayer: Father thank you for finding me and giving me eternal life when I leave this world. I know without uncertainty that you are the one and only true God. I praise you for this time on earth and pray that I can be a witness for you and your glory. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – John 3:16; Monday – Song of Songs 8:6-7; Tuesday – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Wednesday – Revelation 3:14-22; Thursday – Psalm 136:1-26; Friday – Job 10:12; Saturday – 1 John 2:1-6.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals. com.