Recently, I
was inspired by a post my brother wrote on Facebook, and convicted to do the
same, but instead post it on my blog. It has to do with something very
important to me, but I don’t talk a lot about it:
My faith.
I consider
myself a devout Christian. This is no surprise to many of you who know me.
However, I rarely bring it up in talking with strangers or even friends who I
didn’t go to Briercrest or church with. I’ve always found it hard to start
those conversations, yet have no problem getting into spiritual and theological
discussions once the initial topic has been brought up. So I guess I’m should
probably start it for once.
Being a
Christian means that I believe Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross for my
sins, along with the rest of humanity, and rose three days later, confirming
his victory over death and breaking its power over us. I believe that we have
been saved from a very real place called Hell, where souls are sent to be
punished eternally for sin, but I also believe in the place of Heaven where all
those who have followed Jesus are taken for eternal rewards. I believe that all
of this can be found in the Bible, and it is the recordings of people who were
told by God and impacted by Christ. I believe everything written in this book
is true, including the stuff that many people struggle to understand, such as
Old Testament passages on genocide, homosexuality, polygamy and slavery. I believe
that I have been placed on this Earth for a reason, which is to bring glory to
God to all his people, and that I owe him my life and try to live for Him every
day.
This is a
really compressed version of my statement of faith. It is by no means
comprehensive. To graduate from Briercrest, I wrote a 4 page document on what I
believe. So I’ve had time to think about my choices and whether or not I’ve
made the right decision, and I truly believe I have.
But why?
Why would I
believe this stuff? Why would I commit my life to something that occurred over
two millenniums ago, and that no one can seem to prove today? Why would I
believe in something that some people so strongly fight against and claim that
it’s completely insane?
Why not?
Why wouldn’t
I want to follow the Creator of the universe? If everything in the Bible is
true, and I have faith that it is, then we have been given the greatest
opportunity in history in following Him. He promises us rewards beyond our
wildest imaginations, love that cannot be comprehended by humans, and destruction
to our enemies. And all we have to do is believe in Him. That seems like a
pretty low-risk/high-reward deal.
There are a
lot of other things I could get into, but I feel that this isn’t the place for them.
If you’d like to continue the discussion, feel free to contact me via facebook
or email or my face or whatever. If there’s any glaring omissions or confusions,
then also please let me know so I can clarify myself. Being a Christian is not
my religion; it is who I am. In everything I do, God will always come first,
and I hope that He also will for you, too.
There’s a verse in Joshua (24:15) that I would
like to end on:
“But if serving the Lord seems
undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods of your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of
the Amorites in whose land you are living. But
for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
May God
bless every one of you richly,
Dayton Reimer
Dayton Reimer
