“And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).”
“Men to the left, women to the right. Men to the left, women to the right.”
Indifference. That was the blasé tone of the Nazi commands to the Jews at the Auschwitz train depot. Hate implies some emotion exists, but indifference has no feeling at all.
Indifference also typifies our view of God. If we’re honest, we don’t care if He’s real. You may contest that, but a true litmus test of what you love is your expenditure of time and money (Matthew 6:21). If He’s real, the greatest Being ever, and loves you, then it’s stupefying that we ignore Him; but then again, a corpse is pretty hard to impress.
The Bible says that’s because we’re dead, a spiritual corpse, a dead soul, which explains our lackadaisical God attitude. Sin killed it and us. “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).” A disinterest in seeking God confirms this truth, “no one seeks God (Romans 3:11).” Deep down, we don’t trust Him to have our best interests at heart, so we dismiss Him. But God, thankfully, cared, and loved us anyway.
God puts a supreme value on trust, what the Bible calls Faith, the “conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).” He gave us a wake up-nudge when He became a man, and Jesus reaffirmed faith’s importance, asking us to believe that He and the Father were one and the same. So why does a loving God put a premium on trust and faith?
Trust is the core of a relationship. It implies a dependency, and in this case that He knows better than we do, “a rewarder of those who seek Him.” As a father, I want my child’s trust when I tell them to do something, or to avoid something dangerous, to believe that I instruct them out of love. To question me is heartbreaking. To ignore me is even worse, but if I love them then I must let them choose to obey me, and to trust me.
So it is with our Heavenly Father who says sin separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:2). Our indifference confirms it; we don’t believe Him. But God, despite our hurtful attitude, not only said He loves us, He demonstrated it when He died for our sins. He came after us, even though we didn’t care (Luke 19:10). Jesus knew that, and He still came. When God “butted in,” it meant His Son would die, for you, and yet most of us still ignore Him.
Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” But God – two words to change your life’s direction, if you trust Him, “a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Or just stay indifferent, as His love allows you to choose to do. “Men to the left. Women to the right.”
YHM 