Man's Journey on Earth: A fork in the road (Part 2a)

Man's Journey on Earth (Part 2a) 

"God in his infinite grace makes the Gospel available to everyone at every age.  During the last cycle of a person’s life, he or she must choose the right path quickly and wisely because time is exponentially limited."

A fork in the road

Introduction

Life offers us many choices. Choices such as the schools to attend, career paths, marriage partners, including trivialities like selecting between vanilla or strawberry ice cream are some of the plentiful options available to us. Oftentimes, our choices are not limited to two like the above metaphor, but more than two. In the selection process, we invariably narrow down the alternatives to two of the best options and from thereon, we decide what we think is the ideal choice. 

In this article, I will be guiding readers into considering the options between taking the Christian path or to continue the current path an individual is walking. In this current path, I assume that the person may have embraced some sort beliefs in living his life, be it agnosticism or atheism. I have chosen the Christian path in my mid-twenties and have walked this path for the last 40 years with no regrets – only blessings! 

It is also encouraging to know that some great thinkers in the world have also selected this similar path. One of these eminent people is Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001). He was born in New York City to Jewish immigrants and has more than 60 books to his credit as a writer and editor. His most influential work was the Great Books of the Western World series.  Adler, who was also a philosopher, wrote an article on why man is different from animals and his work is indeed illuminating.  His lucid arguments help us realise that man is unique and this is in line with the teaching of the Bible. [You can read it in the following reference]  Mortimer Adler took the Christian path in his twilight years and converted to Christianity in his nineties!

I unreservedly recommend the Christian path for everyone.   If some readers still have doubts about the goodness of this path, I will further expand the truth of Christianity and its authenticity in my next article in Part 2(b). 

The fork is always there

In Part 1 of “Man’s journey on earth”, I have made a brief review of a person’s life cycle. The fork offering the choice of accepting the Christian path or continuing man’s current path is always present in a person’s entire life cycle. Sadly, many do not have the desire to search for the path to eternal life. The incessant activities in our daily lives prevent us from carefully deciding which path to take. The natural tendency of man to shun changes is probably the reason why someone continues his or her journey on earth on the current path. 

The Lord Jesus makes a poignant statement when he says “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”. Hopefully, this statement can set us to think and set aside time to consider whether the path we are currently taking is the right way.  

Analyzing the above statement carefully, it infers that man has a soul and there is a possibility of his soul being lost. He tells us that even if a person gains the whole world like an emperor but has no solution for his eternal soul or in more direct terms, no remedy over one’s impending death, the worldly gains made during this life is futile. 

When we look at a corpse, we understand it well. The rich may have an elaborate funeral ceremony but he is no different from another corpse in the coffin. Eventually, the worms will gnaw at his “rich” body and he will be no different from the next corpse. Shih Huang Ti, the first emperor of China, could understand the veracity of the Lord Jesus' statement. He was already an emperor and realised the futility of owning an empire without the benefit of eternal life. He made a nationwide search for the elixir of life but failed. The good news is that today, you don’t need to have the resources of an Emperor to search for this elixir.   

Since the time of the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross in AD 33, the forgiveness of sins was made available to everyone in the world, irrespective of race or the severity of one’s crime. One just needs to believe in the Lord Jesus and walk the path He prepares for us (John 14:6; 1 Cor 15:1-6). I heard of people accepting the Lord Jesus Christ when they are in their formative years, some as adults and some in their dying bed. God in his infinite grace makes the Gospel available to everyone at every age.  During the last cycle of a person’s life, he or she must choose the right path quickly and wisely because time is exponentially limited.

Gospel presenters

Although the Gospel is available all the time, it is of no value if the Gospel is unknown to people. The Lord Jesus understands this fact perfectly and He commissions all His followers to go and present the Gospel. He says: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”. All of us are particularly fond of promoting good things to our friends. I heard of people promoting a Penang stall selling “Char Kuey Teow”, a form of fried noodles, to folks living as far as Kuala Lumpur. However, when it comes to promoting the Gospel, we are naturally quite reserved. 

I have often thought of this quandary. Why are we so free in sharing the goodness of some petty food and so reserved in sharing the Gospel? After much thought, I come to the conclusion that it is because Christians are generally afraid of the hostile reaction from recipients whom the Gospel is shared. A friend of mine (now an old lady) shared that when she wanted to accept Christ Jesus as her Savior, her father was outraged and literally threatened to break her legs with a stick. Thankfully, she was determined in her decision to be a Christian. I personally believe that there is a spiritual opposition whenever the Gospel is proclaimed because Satan dislikes the offer of forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. The Apostle Paul, a great evangelist for the Gospel, likewise shares the same problem because there is indeed an opposing spiritual force when doing this work and he requested for prayers:

 

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 

Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.

In light of the above verses, we would likely need more prayers in the matter. We have to remind ourselves constantly that we should be presenting the Gospel “in season and also out of season”. A little hostility is nothing compared to the hope and blessing of eternal life when the recipient(s) embraces the faith. My plead to the recipients of the Gospel message is to keep an open mind and be kind to the Gospel presenters as they are trying their best to point you to the correct path. 

The Fork —presented clearly

Rom 10:15  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Many of us are very privileged when the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is preached to us directly. It is so good to have a friend who is willing to share the good news and explain to us why we should take the Christian path. Whenever someone shares us a Gospel message, sends an invitation to a Gospel meeting or gives us some Christian literature, it is a great blessing. Seize the opportunity when Christ can be found in whatever stage of your life cycle. Do not delay! 

If you need further information on the Christian faith, the believers are ever ready to offer their time to serious enquirers of the truth. Even if you call a Christian friend at odd hours and want to hear the Gospel, he or she will likely oblige. If not, you are always welcome to contact the church and I am sure many volunteers are ready to help.

The Fork — presented benignly

In some places where the Gospel is unwelcomed and not openly presented— is it a failure of God? I think not. This serious issue is not for God to answer, but for people who are entrusted by God with the power to share the Gospel. All of us are given some powers to share the Gospel. It is a matter of whether you wish to exercise it. Despite the Gospel not being openly offered as a choice to some, the Gospel is nevertheless available to everyone benignly. The word of God declares:

Matthew 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

When a person diligently seeks Him, God will reveal Himself to him or her. Sometimes, the Gospel is benignly presented in a Christmas carol played at a departmental store during Christmas. In other times, it is presented by a Christian colleague who may be shy to share the Gospel —but you can see Christ’s life in him. If you just ask… at times, the Gospel is with your wife who is afraid of making a direct offer of Christ’s Gospel to you because of your self-confidence in believing that you are always right.  

In the book of 2 Kings 5:1-2, the Gospel was benignly entrusted to a little maid. When the great general Naaman was humble enough to heed to the little maid’s words, he received the blessings of deliverance from leprosy.

The Gospel is the story of God humbling himself to become man, who died sacrificially for man’s sins (Philippians 2:5-8). My prayer is that when you encounter ‘the fork’ at whatever stage of your life cycle, humble yourself to diligently study the offer of the Lord Jesus and take the path to eternal life. There will be other forks you may encounter like careers or even marriage partners. I can only say, “Use your wisdom to decide and after making the selection, do not look back”. Regarding the selection of the Christian path— I can guarantee that you need not look back!

With God’s blessings

CL