December 28 – The Intimidation of Unbelief (Psalm 14)

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ “ (Psalm 14:1)

IN WORD:
It’s easy to be intimidated by a secular culture. Many of our most highly educated elites are skeptics. They look with condescension at those who maintain faith in divine revelations. Their skepticism has permeated our society, and many of the people we run into daily have swallowed their unbelief. Their hyper-rationalism inhibits the sharing of our supernatural faith.
We are often accused of being ignorant of all mankind’s amazing scientific, philosophical, and ideological discoveries. But have you considered the atheist and agnostic’s self limitations? They have embraced a broader ignorance than have the people of faith. They have said, in effect, that anything beyond our observation is unknowable. They accept only the knowledge that unreliable senses, variable consciences, and finite little brains can learn. That’s a pretty narrow view of reality.
We know our limitations. That’s why we depend on a revelation from above. We don’t accept it naively, and we use our brains to interpret it and apply it. But we must be humble enough to realize we didn’t come up with it. God’s Word is an act of God. We would not have known Him in any coherent detail unless He had revealed Himself. And what a revelation! It makes marvelous sense to those who embrace it by faith.

IN DEED:
Don’t be intimidated by your agnostic friends. The biblical witness is clear: Unbelieving minds are usually masks that hide a desire to disobey God. They are an easy excuse for immorality and rebellion. But they are foolishness. They turn their back on divine mysteries in order to cling to a feeble and faulty human wisdom. There is nothing reliable or eternal about their frame of reference. It will end in disaster.
Rather than be intimidated, live your life of faith in front of your agnostic friends. The fruit of the Spirit has a way of refuting hostile beliefs. It is clearly from above. Let your life always point in that direction.

“All unbelief is the belief of a lie.” -Horatius Bonar-