A number of years ago a man sat opposite from me in my office.
By PASTOR DAVE MOENCH
A number of years ago a man sat opposite from me in my office. He was a thoughtful, intelligent man, probably in his late 30’s. After some conversation he said, “If I could take a pill to make me believe in God I’d take it this instant. I want to believe in God but I just can’t.” Let me ask, “Why has God not provided such a pill to make us believe?” Why, especially since eternity hangs in the balance when it comes to our faith (Heb. 10:38; 11:6)? Why? Because God will never violate our free will, our power of choice.
He entreats, “Come now, let us reason together…” (Isa. 1:18). He pleads, “choose life” (Deut. 30:19, Eze. 18:31). When God Created man in His Own image (Gen. 1:27) He instilled within each of us the ability to reason, to choose, to think and decide for ourselves. The best part about being created with a choice is having the ability to love and receive love, not only from one another, but from God Himself! Wrote John, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God” (1 Jn. 4:7). Real love is only possible with Him.
What does genuine love look like? God tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 that love is patient and kind. That it is not envious, or boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, or easily angered. That true love keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, but instead rejoices with the truth. It always protects and trusts the beloved. It is hopeful and persevering because His love “never fails.”
The reason there is no pill to make us believe in Him is because there is no shortcut to mutual, intimate and loving relationships, with God or anyone else. If God’s desire was to have a planet full of robots, or slaves to love and worship Him blindly He could have made us that way. But He didn’t. Instead He made us into “His image” with the capacity to choose to love Him, or to hate and reject Him. I’m so thankful that even while we have sinned against our loving Creator, and at times have lived in open rebellion against Him, that He still chooses to love us. This is evidenced by the death of His own Son in our behalf (Rm. 5:8). So, while there is no pill, we do have an invitation, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). The choice is ours.
Dave Moench serves as pastor at Bowman Seventh Day Adventist.
