THE QUESTION OF GOD
After 40 years in the desert, the Hebrew people arrived at the edge of the Promised Land. Those who had been 20 years of age or older when the journey began were no longer with them, having perished in the desert. God had said: “they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it” (Numbers 14:23). Now, after Moses died and Joshua was about to enter the Promised Land, he challenged the Hebrew people with these words “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served…or the gods…in whose land you dwell. But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” (Joshua 24:15).
Note that Joshua said “serve the Lord” and not merely “know the Lord.” The Hebrew people had known God for many generations but, because they had rebelled and not obeyed or served Him, still suffered in the desert for 40 years. Has the situation really changed today? How many of us end up suffering for years because we still don’t obey or serve Him even though we know Him and even say we believe in Him?
One famous example of this is that of Sigmund Freud. He was a brilliant man, a world famous psychiatrist, and is known as the father of psychoanalysis. As a youth, he was Jewish and knew God, but as he became older and more intellectual he rejected the faith and became atheistic in his thinking. Even as he expressed this viewpoint, Freud still often made passing references to God in his speeches and quoted from the Bible on occasion. He obviously had some knowledge of God but never served Him. He had conflicts throughout his life with various relationships, with memories of his parents, and never really seemed settled. He suffered from depression himself and was preoccupied with fears of dying as many of his birthdays approached. He was afraid of “freezing in an ice-cold grave” and of the “terrors of eternal nothingness.”* When he did become seriously ill suicide was feared and although he remained a committed atheist to the end, his favourite books contained biblical themes and stories.
Alternative to the life of Freud was that of C.S.Lewis. Another brilliant man, he began his intellectual life as an atheist and felt that this philosophy gave him the freedom he wanted. He later developed an interest in Christianity through the works of George MacDonald, and initially struggled with his conversion as he reported in his book Surprised by Joy.
You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen [Collage, Oxford], night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady unrelenting approach of Him whom I desired so earnestly not to meet. That which I so greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England**
C.S.Lewis held lofty positions and professorships at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. During much of this time, he also served God in his many lectures and books and his continued confession of his relationship with God. As he got older, he didn’t look upon his advanced years as a burden, but as a friend and deliverer. He understood death “as a result of the transgression of God’s laws and not part of the original plan” and “…the means that God uses to redeem us”*** C.S. Lewis was cheerful up to the end and had a cup of tea just before he died. “Would we all not wish to go the same way when our time comes?”****
Two lives: one a highly educated man who rejected God and lived a fearful life; dreading death at each birthday and whose his doctor declined to tell him the truth about his health for fear he might be triggered into committing suicide. The other, another highly educated man, who revered God and served Him for most of his life. Although this man had his problems, he welcomed his advancing years and approaching death such that he remained calm and cheerful to the end. One knew God and rejected Him; the other knew God and served Him and the difference was evident.
After Joshua made his statement that “we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15) the people answered and said “…‘God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other Gods…’”(Joshua 24:16 KJV). Joshua replied, “If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good,” (Joshua 24:20). He proclaimed that “…‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him…’” (Joshua 24:22) and so the people departed “…each to his own inheritance,” (Joshua 24:28).
It really is a Question of God. Does one know about Him but reject Him as did Freud or does one know Him and serve Him as did C.S.Lewis? Two lives so very similar and yet so striking in the difference. It’s a question we all must face, because we are all witnesses against ourselves and will each go to our own inheritance. It is something to think about.
*The Question of God by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr. pg 222
** Surprised by Joy by C.S.Lewis as reported in Wikipedia
***The Question of God by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr. pg 231
**** ibid pg 239
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