John 1:35-42 They Followed Jesus

Posted by Fr. Alfonse on January 4th, 2013

This is a syndicated post from Daily Meditations with Fr. Alfonse. [Read the original article...]

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John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

Most atheists like to think of themselves as “free thinkers”. They are not. And my experience has been that the atheists I know are atheists for reasons that have nothing to do with thinking, science or logic. They might not freely admit it, but in most cases their childhood confirms it and their lifestyle proves it. Now, don’t get me wrong, atheists can be anyone: priests, bishops and popes. They can be any “Christian” you know. Remember: you cannot judge a book by its cover.

The impact that family life can have on the heart and mind of a young person is humbling. Most of the atheists I know grew up in a very strict and severe Christian household. Although they were introduced to the Bible at an early age (and they learned it by heart) they never experienced a loving God’s heart. And since God is love, is there any wonder why God would not be rejected?

Where there is no presence of love, there is no presence of God. God does not reside in hell.

Since we are all creatures of knowledge and experience, is it so hard to believe that if a child saw love coming and going through the back door, they would find it hard to believe that love was real or lasted forever? Is it so hard to believe that if a young child grew up without a father then they would find it strange calling God “Father”? Of course not!

Well, I for one am convinced that there is no such thing as a “free thinker”, for most are slaves of their past.

Yes, we all fancy ourselves as thinking for ourselves and being “independent minded”, but the truth of the matter is: we are creatures of habit, and we will easily follow something or someone for reasons other than “truth”, “love” and “humility”.

And if you still don’t believe me, then take a look for a moment at another aspect of the free thinker’s life. So many of them are diehard members or adherents to various organizations and movements, the only exception being the religious ones (They consider those to be full of zombies). But who are the brainwashed? Who are the confused? Even atheists feel the need to gather together and to support one another. Even they need to be indoctrinated in seminars (seminaries). Even they still buy a lottery ticket, while at the same time denying any chance in heaven that God exists.

What chance is there of winning the Powerball or Mega millions lottery? One in a billion. What chance is there of God existing? Fifty-fifty. After all, either God exists or He doesn’t. But if he does and I believe, then I just won the jackpot!

Maybe the reason why they live for today is the same reason why we go to Church. You never know.

We are all followers. We follow people in life as we follow them to our death. I prefer to follow the Lord every where: in life and to the death.

We all take chances. We take chances every day. I prefer to take my chances with the Lord.

We all have doubts. We have our doubts in people. We decide to trust. I prefer to give God the benefit of my doubts and to trust in Him.

We talk to people every day. We hear them all the time. And most of the time we just repeat what we already heard. I prefer to talk to the Lord and listen to His every Word, for not only did He speak like no other, but He spoke directly to me; to my heart and mind.

The disciples heard what John had said and followed the Lord. It’s not that crazy when you think about it. We do it all the time. We do it with others.

Following Jesus is no different than following others, just better and smarter.

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