Will Barack Obama be the Democratic nominee for the White House?  According to today's New York Times, he is already acting in ways intended to position him as the party's inevitable nominee.  Yesterday he received an enthusiastic reception on the floor of the House.  The Times also reports behind-the-scenes discussions between Mr. Obama and party leadership.  Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton continues to claim that she will stay in the contest "until every vote is counted."

Some think the race is over; others say it's too soon to declare a winner.  Some think the fight is dividing the Democratic Party.  Others say that the continued contest is good for the party, as it galvanizes support for the candidates and the party's eventual presidential effort.  Who is right?  This November we'll know.

What is true of politics is also true of faith.  Atheist Christopher Hitchens claims that the absence of evidence for God is evidence for the absence of God.  To which I respond that God has done all he can do to make his presence known to us.  He created the universe, then entered it personally.  He gave us a book to tell the story.  If he were to appear physically before you this morning, you could later claim that your senses were deceiving you.  And not many people would believe your story anyway.

Faith is a relationship; like all relationships, it must be experienced to be verified.  You cannot know that a job is right for you until you try it.  You cannot know a friend is trustworthy until you trust that friend.  You cannot know that you'll like a new recipe until you taste it.  You cannot know that you'll enjoy a new country until you visit it.

But it will not always be so with God.  The Bible claims that one day Jesus will return to our planet, and every knee will bow before him as Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).  Then we'll know without a doubt that he was Lord all along.  Then we'll have absolute proof.

Theologian John Hick asks us to imagine a Christian and a non-believer hiking through the countryside together.  The Christian believes that the road leads to the Celestial City; the non-Christian believes that it leads nowhere.  They climb up the same hills and down the same valleys, enduring the same rain and enjoying the same sunshine.  All the while one believes that they are going to heaven, while the other believes that they are going nowhere.  Finally they reach the last turn in the road.  And one is right, and one is wrong.

Are you ready for that turn today?

Copyright © 2008. GodIssues.com.  All rights reserved.