Day 43, Year 1 A Short Time To Rejoice?

Jesus said, “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” (John 5:35 NASB)

When Jesus commented on the relationship between John the Baptist and the Israelites, He pointed out that many people were willing to follow John. Similarly, some people prefer various religions and philosophies over the faith in Jesus, which is understandable. While Jesus demands lordship over our lives, many others do not require such a high level of commitment. Human nature tends to favor autonomy and self-improvement over submission to God. Bridges are indeed are vital, but they are never the final destination.

Do the teachings of different religions and philosophies really align with your heart’s desires? For instance, the Quran in Islam mentions the use of force against dissenters. Is this advocacy of conversion by force correct? Confucianism and Mencian philosophy have easily led to hypocrisy, which jeopardizes many. Is the Buddhist concept of reincarnation true? Around AD 1900, the global population was estimated to be less than 1.7 billion; by 2000, it had exceeded 6.1 billion. In just a hundred years, 4.4 billion people had been born. Did vast quantities of plants, animals, insects, etc. suddenly excel and reincarnate human beings within a century? Is the caste system and classism in Hinduism fair to humanity, especially to the untouchables? Judaism’s strict adherence to the law, but if neglecting the great salvation through Jesus Christ, of what benefit is it?

Even more puzzling is the belief within some who claim that “believing in Jesus once with the sinner’s prayer guaranteed entry to heaven.” And this “belief” is subjectively defined, such that if someone claims to “believe,” it cannot be denied or challenged. This strange formula is not the path of righteousness, but a path to destruction, a heresy derived from pseudo-Christian faith mixed with extreme subjectivism. (Subjectivism asserts that individual mental activity is the only unquestionable fact of experience. It is not shareable with others or the public, nor does it acknowledge the existence of external, objective truths and investigations.) Without believing in the Bible, we cannot ascertain who Christ is or what saving faith entails; then, how could we have true Christian faith? How could we ascertain real Christian faith without the objective truth or that based on the across-time-and-space community?

Reflection questions:

1) Do you feel the need to overcome the human inclination to resist total submission to the God Most High? If so, what would you do?

2) Do you think you have been influenced by subjectivism in any way? If yes, how would you overcome its bad influence on your Christian faith?