"If only I had known...."

I know a few good people who call themselves atheists. The most common question I get from them is, “How do you know there is a God? You can’t see him. There is no physical evidence He ever existed, just the writings of some old men who needed to 'control the masses?' How can you believe in someone just on faith?”

Without realizing it, our daily lives are governed by blind faith.  Eating canned soup, riding a bus or using an elevator demand faith in unseen people, just as imperfect as we are; factory workers, mechanics, and drivers.  Yet there are many who refuse to put their faith in our perfect God, who is not totally invisible as some say.  We can infer Him from what we perceive, a highly diverse, orderly nature shaped in beauty and a humanity gifted with intelligence and creativity supplied with all the raw materials needed for its survival and comfort.

We can look at two Scripture passages to show us the necessity of faith to human survival, both physical and spiritual.

In Maccabees (1 Maccabees 2:15-29) we meet a man who refused to compromise his faith, who practiced righteousness, kept the Law of the Covenant.  His faithfulness and that of his followers cost them dearly; they escaped a tyrant to live in a wilderness rather than submit to a heathen ruler who killed people who followed God's Law.  They assumed hardships and risked death, trusting that a loving faith in God would ultimately give them the victory.

In contrast, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem's faithlessness leading to its imminent destruction by the Roman armies (Luke 19:41-44).  Its religious leaders had not only misinterpreted God's Law, thus failing to adhere to its truths and its spirit of love, but they also remained blind to Christ's many signs and wonders as proof that God was indeed "visiting" them in the Person of Christ.  Having failed to recognize and accept Him as God, they'll pay a great price.  God's protection rests on those who in loving faith keep God's law.  Sadly, sin is never a private matter; it inevitably injures the innocent along with the guilty.  If only they had known.

Why can't we profit from the mistakes of others and avoid the inevitable sadness that comes from making bad choices?  Must we always be doomed to keep making the same mistakes, to have history, so to speak, repeat itself?

The answer to the latter question is “no, certainly not!”

As we have the power to choose, so too, do we have the power to choose either wisely, as God would have us do, or otherwise, according to our own faulty ways.  If we accept God's Word as law, and live in obedience to Christ, we will not have to suffer the remorse of having to say over and over, "If only I had known."