A quick note here: Since atheists don’t believe in God I’m
not sure that they would capitalize the G in God or the H in He. But, I just can’t do that.
It is not my intent to get into a discussion about why God doesn’t intervene, though the question presupposes that He doesn’t intervene or that He doesn’t have a higher purpose in not intervening, which I am not in a position to answer. I’m not God. I think that there is something else at work here.
As I pondered on that question another thought came to my
mind. In essence, it is that it takes
hard work to believe and trust in God.
It takes work to have faith in God.
It is easy to dismiss the very existence of God if you cannot see Him,
if you have not heard His voice, if you have not followed His footsteps in the
sand. It doesn’t take any work; it doesn’t
take any effort to not believe in God.
All you have to do is look around and say, “I don’t see Him. I don’t know anybody who has seen Him (in
spite of all the scriptural evidence).
He hasn’t revealed Himself to me.
I’ve not heard His voice.
Therefore, He is not. He does not
exist.”
It is interesting how this works. For generations people could not see
bacteria, yet they believed. And then
they saw. For generations people could
not see molecules, yet they believed.
And then they saw. For
generations people could not see atoms, yet they believed. And then they saw. It is so easy for people to believe in the
physical without seeing. Then with the
search, they are able to see.
As a believer I have often been criticized because of my
belief in the necessity of works to
accompany faith. Unfortunately, people
don’t understand that my faith does not teach or believe that we can work our
way into Heaven. To the contrary, we
know that it is by grace that we are saved.
You see, we believe that it is necessary to obey the commandments to
enter the presence of God, but it isn’t just a matter of obedience. Further, there are different levels of
obedience. Some people obey because they
are afraid of the punishment that will follow if they disobey. Others obey because they want the
reward. A higher level of obedience comes
simply because they love the Savior and want to please Him. They obey because they love the Lord. This level is nearly perfect, but I believe
there is an even higher level that the Lord wants us to achieve and that is to
obey because that is who we are. It is
our nature to do what is right because that is who we are. Yes, it is an
outgrowth of obedience because of our love of the Savior, but it has grown to
an entirely new level. In this regard, we have become as Him. This level approximates the fulfillment of
the Savior’s admonition to become perfect even as He is perfect (Matt. 5: 48). Clearly, we are not perfect, but when we come
to obey because that is who we are we have then achieved this one divine
attribute. It is a difficult challenge,
but I believe we can achieve this perfect obedience one divine attribute at a
time and that we have eternity to get there.
I digress. I always
do.
But as I thought of how easy it must be to be an atheist and
how hard it is to believe, the oft quoted scripture in James came to mind. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is
dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say,
Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I
will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou
doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works is dead?” (James 2:17 - 20).
And then it hit me.
This scripture has a second meaning.
It takes work to have faith.
Without effort; without hard laborious work; without that desire to
believe and without thrusting in with all your effort there can be no
faith. Indeed, faith without works is
dead.
It would be so much easier to do nothing and to live a moral
life and not be concerned about what may follow.
I'd rather work.
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