Thought for Wednesday 7 May

 

Romans 1:18-20

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves.  For the truth about God is known to them instinctively.  God has put this knowledge in their hearts.  From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God has made.  They can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature.  So they have no excuse whatever for not knowing God.

 

In our world, we have speculation about who killed JFK, we have folks questioning if man really did walk on the moon and currently we have politicians questioning if there is a finite supply of fossil fuels and if global warming is a legitimate issue or is it just scare mongering? 

Increasingly, it seems to be in the nature of mankind to question what they are being told.  Is the information being reported from news outlets actually legitimate and honest or are we being fed misleading information at the behest of the influential people that own the news outlets perhaps for some financial or political benefit for them?  If the spreading of misinformation is on the increase, it is a worrying trend and we have to wonder how it will all end and what is driving people to behave in this manner.

 

It's an interesting concept that some folks know deep down inside that something is most certainly true but choose to deny it or spread untruths anyway.  Even during the account of the  trial of Jesus in John 18:37-38, Jesus says: ‘I came to bring truth to the world.  All who love the truth recognise that what I say is true’ to which Pilate responded: ‘What is truth?’  Pilate went to the people and told them he couldn’t find Jesus guilty of any crime yet rather than stand by his conclusion, he put the decision of the fate of Jesus in the hands of the mob that were baying for his execution.  Just like our reading tells us, we, like Pilate, know the truth in our hearts, what matters is what we do with that knowledge.  In the case of Pilate, he stood by and allowed a man he knew to be innocent go to the cross.

 

Our reading tells us that there is no excuse for not knowing God.  The truth is plain to see.  It just seems there is another force driving us away from what we know to be true and we need to be aware of its influence.  Jesus said he was the way of God, the truth of God and holding to this belief leads you to the eternal life with our God.  That is all we need to know.

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the wonders of creation that speak so clearly of your great glory and the wonder of your works.  We pray that we will never lose that wonder of who you are, as we reflect on creation in all its aspects.  May we respond to the inner promptings of your Spirit when we are tempted to knowingly do something that we know to be wrong and help us to become increasingly conscious of your leading and guiding within our soul and conscience.  We thank you that you sent your only begotten Son to die for us so that we might live.  Help us to live as you would have us live, with utter dependence upon you.  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.