LITTLE ROCK — DEAR REV. GRAHAM: I don’t feel any need for God. I live by my own set of rules - things like respect for others, selflessness, concern for the environment, honesty, and so forth - and that’s all I need. Why should I bother with God?
- J.E.
DEAR J.E.: I’m thankful you want to live by these principles; our world would be better off if more people followed moral principles like this. Unfortunately, many people who reject God don’t live this way.
However, I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to leave God out of your life. For one thing, even if you don’t believe in God, He is still real, and He loves you and knows what is best for you. God made us, and our lives are incomplete without Him. Even if you deny it, down inside you’ll always wonder if something is missing from your life. And you’ll be right; something will be missing - and that “something” is God.
After all, you aren’t just a body and a mind; you also have a soul or spirit that God put within you. He put it there so you could know Him as your friend, and life’s greatest joy comes from personally knowing Him and walking with Him every day. Why leave Him out of your life? And why face eternity without Him? The Bible says, “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you”(Isaiah 26:9).
Have you ever asked yourself what it is that keeps you from God? Is it a desire to run your own life? Or are you unwilling to turn from a particular sin that has a hold over you? Whatever the reason, I urge you to turn to Jesus Christ and make Him the center of your life. You’ll never regret it.
Write to Billy Graham in care of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C. 28201 or visit the website at billygraham.org
ActiveStyle, Pages 24 on 01/14/2013