Recently I was having a phone conversation with a business acquaintance only to find out that he had spent his holidays unexpectedly caring for his terminally ill father, a situation that is lingering on. We talked at some length about how his dad had developed mesothelioma from his time spent on a submarine back in the fifties. It was quite moving to hear this man reminisce about his dad’s life as I could sense the anguish in his heart as he considered the status of his father’s life. Mesthelioma is a slow developing disease and apparently it catches it’s victims by surprise and then it is too late to do anything about it.

          At times such as this reality sets in and we come to see that life is short. We come face to face with our own mortality. Then what? These two words strike at the essence of our being. What’s next, what’s it all about, is this all there is? These are sobering considerations that none can escape. They can be shoved aside and rejected or we can make an uninformed decision based upon what we would like to believe or how we think things really are. Decisions such as these are often made without much consideration or depth of understanding. Truthfully, far too many Christians have spent too little effort studying the basis for what they believe. We live in a time and culture that tends to easily accept or reject things with little basis to depend on. Doesn’t it make sense that we would reasonably pursue the truth about eternity with greater zeal than we would apply to anything else in this world? After all, eternity is a long time. It’s particularly a long time for anyone who might get it wrong.

          The problem arises when we try to affix quick answers or decide such matters from the logical perspective. Actually, I can present compelling logistics for the accuracy of the Bible as well as for the biblical historical record it presents. The trouble is that logic will not and cannot get the job done. What logic can do is arouse your sense of the possibilities. It can get your attention. It can make you wonder but facts alone cannot lead you to believe in the existence of God or eternal life. This can only be accomplished by divine revelation, which is an act of the supernatural. Think how foolish it is to judge matters of supernatural proportion by the limitations of the natural mind. Those who know can attest to actual knowledge of the transformation that takes place when a person receives and accepts the call of God. From the outside looking in it appears as foolishness but to the one who truly possesses the experience there’s no desire to ever turn back.

          We can easily miss the truth of God by false understandings of who He is. We can claim to be “good” as a justification for our life or we can dismiss God altogether because He doesn’t make sense. We can chose to believe anything we want about Him but there can be only one truth. The truth is, He is willing to reveal Himself to anyone who earnestly seeks Him. He will not always change your circumstances but He is always willing to change your perception of them. It is truly amazing when God gives you a new perspective and your whole world changes when physically nothing has changed at all. Knowing the one true God through the life offered by His Son is the only way to resolve the question of life that ultimately asks, what’s next?