92 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
92 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
7 WAYS TO AVOID GOD.
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I think of myself as an average person.I don't hate God. As far as I know
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He has done me no harm. But I do find it difficult to avoid God.
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I am not an atheist. I am an agnostic. If there is a God I don't want to
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know Him. I prefer to live my own life. The last thing I want is for God to
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get in my way. So I have set out a personal seven-point plan to avoid Him.
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With Bibles on display in bookstores, and churches on almost every street
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corner my task has not been easy. But here is my procedure:
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STEP ONE: I sleep Sunday mornings.
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I personally don't find 'sleeping in' that easy. I have the bad habit of
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waking early, even on Sunday. But I have solved the problem. I told my
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doctor I was having a difficult time sleeping and he gave me some pills.
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About midnight on Saturday I swallow two pills and am good until eleven
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o'clock Sunday morning, which conveniently is too late to go to church.
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STEP TWO: As a traveling man I keep hotel & motel dresser drawers closed.
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In many hotels and motels today a Bible will jump out at you if you open a
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drawer. I enter my room, hang up my suitbag & leave my other things in my
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open suitcase. I carry an off-color paperback with me so if there is nothing
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to do in town at least I can read myself to sleep. By the way, I don't
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accept literature from strangers. When offered literature I politely tell
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people I am too busy to read it.
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STEP THREE: I carefully choose my radio stations.
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Many cities carry twenty-four-hour religious stations. Some of their music
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is good but you must be wary because they may be skillfully concealing a
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sharp hook. Right while enjoying a fine recording, some preacher breaks in to
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tell you that you are a sinner & need God. I am on to their tricks, so now I
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dial a station that is really rocking and rolling and feel reasonably safe.
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STEP FOUR: I avoid Christian businessmen.
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In fact, I am a church member. I seldom attend, but my membership has given me
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many good business contacts. But one must be careful. I have discovered a
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fanatical brand of businessmen who would rather talk to you about God
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than about gold. I don't question their sincerity,but it takes money to feed a
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family, and that is my first concern. When a Christian businessman invites
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me to church or for Bible study, I usually back out with, 'I have a splitting
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headache' (that sounds better than a hangover) 'and just can't make it tonight.'
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STEP FIVE: I create my own gods.
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I have a list of things I would like to do but never have time to get done.
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So Sunday I play around with the most attractive items on my list. I have
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come to feel that that is what Sunday is for. Every person should have a
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hobby and I use Sundays to spend time on my hobbies and to do my thing.
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STEP SIX: I see to it that I am' master of my fate.'
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It is my privilege to choose to believe in God or to choose not to believe.
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I accept the old Roman idea that death ends everything. This makes the whole
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business of escaping God a lot easier. It allows one to sing with the freedom
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of a bird, 'Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.'
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STEP SEVEN: I can always kill myself.
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This I call my desperate step. I don't really advocate it and frankly, I am
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chicken. But I know it happens many times a day. Self-destruction is a way
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of escape. However, it leaves me a little cold. Questions pop into my mind.
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Is it a copout from life? Is it really escape? Does one avoid God in this way
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or is death the solemn usher that leads me into the presence of God?
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Now that I have answered questions on what I can do to avoid God I find
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myself faced with an even greater question. If there is a Supreme Being
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who loves me, why should I try to avoid Him? Is my attempt to hide from God
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inconceivable conceit? Would I not be wiser and happier to accept His love?
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Is it not the fool who says in his heart 'There is no God?' Why run from
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God? His invitation is pretty inviting for a man who is tired of running:
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'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
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rest' (Matthew 11:28)
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After running for so long I gave God my worries and accepted His rest. I
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found it so easy. I just said, 'Jesus, You please take my sin and I will take
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Your salvation.' God and I made the trade and I am no longer running, I am
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resting in His salvation. I have thrown my list away. If you will do what I
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did, you won't need your list either.
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'And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the
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Lord shall be saved.' (Acts 2:21).
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Written by: Dick Hillis
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Downloaded from the Good News BBS
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(313) 459-8375
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