When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to
change ourselves.
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human
freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose
one’s own way.
For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse
unless each of us does his best.[1]
Viktor Frankl has
more credibility to me than just about any other in the same field. The simple
fact is that his theories were tested under the most heinous circumstances and
proved legitimate. The quotes above are all from Frankl’s book, Man’s Search
for Meaning. It appears clear from Frankl’s writing that people need to
be responsible and exercise their right to choose. The choices we make in life
eventually define who we are.
As an old man, Joshua summoned the people of Israel, their
elders and leaders. He reminded them of all the good thing God had done for
them. He assured the people that God would fight for them as long as they
remained faithful. He called on Israel to make a choice:
Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in
faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and
in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD,
choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in
the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are
living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.[2]
On that day the people chose to serve God.
The presence of Jesus compelled his contemporaries to make a
choice as to who he was. People at that time were divided in what they though;
he was a good man, he was a deceiver, the Messiah, not the Messiah, Elijah,
Jeremiah or one of the prophets. His disciples recognized him as, “…the Messiah, the Son of the living
God.”[3]
And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds.
While some were saying, "He is a good man," others were saying,
"No, he is deceiving the crowd."[4]
Can it be that the authorities really
know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the
Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from."[5]
When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, "This is
really the prophet." Others said, "This is the Messiah." But
some asked, "Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he?[6]
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them,
asked, "Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing
to find out what they are doing, does it?" They replied, "Surely you
are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is
to arise from Galilee."[7]
"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said,
"Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah
or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I
am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the
living God."[8]
There were other reasons why the religious elite did not
accept Jesus for who he claimed he was, but the clincher came from scripture
–he came from Galilee. The Jewish leaders publicized their decision to reject
Jesus on their assumption he was born in Galilee. I have wondered why Jesus
didn’t tell them he was born in Bethlehem. I expect he knew that where he was
from wasn’t the real reason they rejected him. In reality Jesus was a threat to
their position politically, and a window into their hypocrisy. Any one of the
leaders could at any time have gone to Jesus’ home town synagogue and verified
the place of his birth.
The most important choice humans face is whether to believe
Jesus was/is the Son of God. It doesn’t matter what you choose as your
political position. It doesn’t matter what a person chooses as life’s vocation.
It doesn’t matter what one believes about any number of things, but it matters
what you choose to believe about Jesus. People at the time when Jesus lived on
earth held different opinions about him. Today, there are still many opinions.
To believe Jesus is who said he was, is a choice. Options from long ago
recorded in scripture are: he was a good man, he was a deceiver, the Messiah,
not the Messiah, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Currently a choice
that appeals to some is to be an agnostic. An agnostic is, “a person who believes that nothing is known or can
be known of the existence or nature of God.”[9] Another
modern choice is atheism. An atheist is, “a person who disbelieves or lacks
belief in the existence of God or gods.”[10] Some
people prefer humanism. Humanism is, a philosophical
and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings,
individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and
evidence (rationalism and empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition.[11] I
suppose pantheism should be included since it is the motivation behind much of
the climate change propaganda. Pantheism is, “a
doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe.”[12] There
is a long list of alternate choices to believing Jesus is God’s Son. Many
people believe that everything came from nothing –evolution. Some scientists
would have people believe that evolution is undeniable, but that’s a lie. Evolution
is a hypothesis founded on the belief that, out of nothing, the entire universe
with all of its intricacies and order, just happened. Evolution is a
faith-based philosophy that can no more be proven, than I can prove the
existence of God.
Whether we want to
or not we will choose either to believe in Jesus, or to reject him. I have
chosen to believe that Jesus was/is the Son of God. He came to earth to
establish the kingdom of God on earth. He gave his life as a sacrifice for sin,
through which we can be saved by believing in him.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did
not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned;
but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not
believed in the name of the only Son of God.[13]
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