We can be convinced of many things and our convictions will play a huge role in how we view life and respond to it. If we are convinced that the world is primarily good, we will view all people as good and deserving of a chance. If we are convinced that the world is basically bad, we will look with mistrust at everything and everyone.
If we are convinced that God is good, we will desire a close relationship with Him. If we are convinced that the devil is not real, we are in real trouble.
Now why did I slip that ol’ devil in? What’s that all about?! Well, because the devil IS real. He desperately wants us to believe otherwise because if we do not believe in him, we will not be wary of his many ways. Lies, deceit, envy, and a whole host of capital sins belong to his bag of tricks. If we do not believe in the devil, we will not guard ourselves against him.
He’s real. Believe me. Watch yourself. Look out for his wiles and ways lest you become trapped.
At the Ark Encounter, I found that it was easy to reject much of what was being presented because it was done by people who are committed fundamentalists. They view the Bible as something quite literal and they date the earth at 6,000 years rather than the millions of years that science dates the world. They talk about the flood that enveloped the entire earth for over a year and a world that was repopulated by just the people and animals that were on the ark.
To many, that smacks of incredulity and ridiculousness. For one example, genetically, if generations of people and animals were involved in interbreeding, there would be major problems exhibited. However, if we are quick to reject this view of the ark, we might be prone to reject the entire thing.
There are two camps of Christians: those who believe that every word in the Bible is completely factual and those who believe that the Bible is full of religious stories that have been set down to convey religious truths. The exact number and descriptions do not matter to the second group because they believe in the truth being revealed.
We must be careful lest we reject outright the existence of the devil. We hold on to our belief in a loving and merciful God and ask Him to reveal Himself to us more fully day by day and to guard us from the ways of the wicked one.
To quote Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Count me in, Josh!
Apparently I dealt with the devil in my younger days, because now I deal with God,Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how I would deal with this life otherwise!
As for the ARK, I guess I”m one of those people who think and believe the good . But there is always a part of me that can believe or not believe. This “gift” probably takes years to acknowledge. So I need to be grateful that I have this “gift”… it’s made this life a whole lot easier…. most of the time!