Is God a reality or a concept? Some will say, “How dare you even ask that question, of course he is a realty!” Good for you, I appreciate the righteous indignation. But formany people I meet, this is a question that has real merit. They are not convinced that God is real. They want him to be real, especially if that means he will do theirbidding. It’s the vending machine aspect of prayer, put in a prayer and all the goodies come out like no hurt, new job, obedient kids and the like. But that in itself is askewed understanding of God.
If God is real — what then? When I was a kid I had a magnifying glass. As a little kid it was fun. You could look really close at the details of anything. Take a close look ata spider, wow! You could also hold it in the sun and start a fire on a piece of paper!
In Psalm 95 there is a call to worship. Well what in the world is a call to worship? It is a Psalm calling us to consider God as a reality, not a concept. Verse 7 says, “Today,if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
Today, there is no promise of tomorrow, do it now. If you hear his voice. No, this is not some creepy super-deep voice like in the movies. God speaks mostly through theBible, through thoughts, situations, God given curiosity — even newspaper articles. If you hear his voice though, do not harden your heart. Whatever way you go withthis, the magnifying glass affect will come into play. If you respond to God and say, “I don’t get it or understand this totally, but God — I want to hear more from you,” inobedience to God, he will reveal more of himself. Most people who were not raised in the church encounter a slow process where God reveals himself as very much realand they discover that his son Jesus actually died for them and they commit their entire lives to him. But that happens slowly as God speaks. For those who choose toharden their hearts, it is the opposite.
This news is so important that it repeats in Hebrews 3 in the New Testament.
But here is where the reality of God gets exciting. As we draw near to God, he draws near to us, we understand who he is and what was once a concept becomes anexciting reality! It’s just like the magnifying glass on paper. God magnifies his Son, not the sun, and starts a fire in us that lasts for all eternity. Ask a person who youknow is a Christian and look for the glow in their eyes, a fire that is real because a living reality is present, God himself!
But it starts here, “Today if you hear his voice,” — the choice is yours.
