The Most Uncomfortable Devotional I’ve Ever Read
An old school devotional I’ll never forget
It was a long time ago when I was a hardcore bible thumper. I carried my bible holder, pens, and devotionals nearly everywhere I went. My favorite devotional service was Our Daily bread. If you’re old school, you’ll recognize the name of that service that deliver the soft little books to your home filled with devotionals and prayers to encourage and inspire.
One day, I came across a story(meant to inspire), about a man who was a “Good Man”.
We’ll call that story, “The Good Man” to save time.
This was many years ago, so I’ll give my rendition of the story here because my memory is foggy, but the gist is still there:
There once was a man who loved everyone. He gave to organizations. He fed people. He was a good moral man. He was loving and very kind. He grew to be an old, kind man. Then he died… and rested in hell.
Did that sit well with you?
It didn’t?
Me neither.
Even back then, as a Believer, I just did not understand how a good person could go to hell. I’m a simple kind of person most days, so when I think of hell, I think of a place for the most wretched, unrepentant souls that ever existed.
To read a devotional as to why being “good” is not enough, bothered me. It’s especially unsettling when Jesus was once called good:
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” — Matthew 19:17 King James Version (KJV)
You know me…I can be a smart Alec sometimes.
I remember thinking that if none of us could ever be good — why try? I’ll just live freely as I wish, skip church and all the religiosity that comes with this religion. It’s kind of BS to say none is good, and a person who is good, goes to hell anyway. My mind cracked at this point and caused near physical pain because it would seem all is in vain.
My new understanding
Years later, that devotional still troubles me.
Our Daily Bread has evolved over the years and is an online Christian University, but they still have helpful little books in PDF format. I used to love requesting those free little books online in the mid 2000s because they had answers to very hard questions Christians ask about life. Everything from biblical feasts and holidays, to sex.
I think I understand now what the ODB(Our Daily Bread) writer was getting at. If you are not a believer in the Most High Yah/God, then what I’m about to say next may seem moot or confusing, but I’ll say it anyway.
Our love for God must be high over EVERYTHING we hold dear. His Word is our water, our treasure, our food. The Creator(whoever they are to you), enabled us to have life. Life began because of God, so if we ignore Him or say we don’t need him and do not believe he exists, it is a slap in the Creator’s face.
You do all you can by your own steam. You become good. You read self-help books, give to charities, sit down with an ailing friend, but the one who made you, you silently tell him to “Piss off!”
If you live in a world without Him…
Why should you live in a world with him?
Okay, I’m off my soapbox now. It’s hard writing this because not only do I love God, but I also don’t understand many of his ways. I still have age old concerns and questions about this life and why so much negative happens. I grasp onto the bright things in life and keep His word in my heart for the dark rainy days in the microcosm of my world.
Thank you for reading!
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