Ignorance?

January 15, 2010








Is Ignorance Bliss?



Leslie Nease, She Speaks! Graduate







"Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused." Romans 1:21-22 (NLT)







Devotion:



A wave of regret swept over me as I looked up the nutrition information on the pumpkin muffin I'd just consumed. It had a whopping 530 calories, 20 fat grams and 80 carbohydrates! Stunned, I wondered why I would ever want to know this information? Why did I look this up? Now I wouldn't be able to eat my pumpkin muffin in good conscience!







Ignorance is bliss. Or is it?







If I didn't know this nutritional information I would eat the muffin thinking that because it contains vegetable, it must be good for me! I mean, honestly - have you tasted one of these? But the truth is, eating a pumpkin muffin every day for the rest of my life might lead to some serious consequences. Heart disease, obesity, lack of energy and diabetes could be in my future. Now that I'm in the know, I can't deny the potential negative affects this could have. I have a responsibility and a decision to make, whether I like it or not.





Similarly, it used to be easier for me to pretend God wasn't real--hell was made up and evil was something I could elude. But when faced with the reality that there is a God who I am accountable to, there is a hell, and evil is present; I knew I had some decisions to make. Instead of living in denial, I accepted that ignorance is not bliss and it was not doing me any favors. So I started to search for truth about God in the pages of His Word.



Scripture is the one place where we can be sure we will find all we need to know about God. However, many folks try to figure out God without the Bible; they want a god on their terms. This reminds me of diets that promise extreme weight loss while eating whatever you want without exercising. We would be in denial if we believed those promises. To lose weight, you have to know the nutritional value of food, work out regularly, and not eat pumpkin muffins every day! It's a conscious decision to daily invest in our health and there are no short cuts.



Denying God's existence is not going to change the fact that He is there either. Ignorance is not bliss - it is ignorance.







God makes Himself known to us through His Word. He says, "I Am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, NIV). We must make a conscious decision daily to invest in our spiritual health through learning about God through time in the Bible. We must connect and remain with Him. With God's Word lighting our path, we are armed with truth, so we can make informed decisions that will help us grow, not lead us into deception.