I believe Nebraska is real although I’ve never been there. Nebraska is one of the 50 states of the United States. I’d bet my life on it. I’ve been to 41 states which makes me confident the other 9 states must be there as advertised. I’m also sure Nebraska is there because all of the states, including Nebraska, were covered in my geography classes in school. I’ve seen Nebraska on maps and read about it. I’ve seen Nebraska on television.
I’ve met people who’ve lived in Nebraska and their eyewitness testimony convinces me Nebraska is there. I know people who have at least driven through each of the nine states I’ve never visited and my faith makes me believe they are all real places too. I’ve never heard anyone dispute the existence of Nebraska or any other state which gives me added confidence. I don’t have to go to Nebraska to believe in it because my faith tells me it’s there. The evidence is overwhelming that Nebraska is a real place.
The point of this example is to show we all have a belief system within us. We all take in stimulus from our senses to help us decide what’s real and what isn’t. We see, hear, touch, smell and feel our environment and based on a preponderance of evidence we make judgements and decide whether to believe what we receive or not. We do this many times a day, every day, for our entire lives. Most of the time we don’t even have to think about it.
During the course of our lives most of the things we believe in won’t really have any effect on the quality of our lives. Whether or not I believe in Nebraska or not has no direct influence on how I live my life. Some of what we believe will impact our life in some way but may not be important. We need to know what is of vital importance in our lives and then examine all the evidence available on that topic so we can make the best choices.
Knowing whether or not there is a God is all-important. Knowing whether we serve the one true God is vitally important. Knowing whether we have an eternal soul is critical. Knowing where we’re going to be spending eternity is crucial. Knowing how to gain eternal life is vital. Knowing how to find God is indispensable. God made us and put us on this earth to seek His face and find salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Everything else in life is static, white noise, and roadblocks thrown up by Satan on our journey of self-discovery in this life. We’re all like salmon swimming upstream in the river of life trying to get back to where we were born. My job is to warn you all of us won’t make it and to show you the way home. Those who will make it will be those who know the right questions to ask and where to look for those answers.
The Holy Bible contains all the answers to life’s important questions. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? Study God’s Word and the overwhelming evidence it contains will grow your faith in God and His salvation plan for man to the point you will know what you believe and why. As you abide in the truth and continually pray to God your faith will become unshakeable.