The biggest problem in the world today is when man
with all his effort is trying to protect the God in whom He believes. Sadly,
incidents of riot, killing one another for this cause has happened in the past
and continues to happen around the globe. People are desperate to protect god,
religious buildings, monuments, shrines, and religion by all means. Logically,
it can be justified because man has erected the religious building, monuments,
and shrines hence he thinks it’s his duty to protect the structure. Religious
monuments and shrines are considered as the dwelling place of god, therefore
religious sentiments overtake the actual faith in God.
It looks like man, (the created being) has
allotted a place for god (who is the creator of the universe) and wants him to
confine to that particular property. I don’t know how this is making sense but
somewhere our passion and our faith on God is misplaced or rather wrongly
positioned. The Bible clarifies this when referring to Jesus, “the
God who made the world and everything in it -he is Lord of heaven and
earth-does not live in shrines made by hands.”. It further claims
this, “from one man he has made every nationality to live over the
whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of
where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they
might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”. It
is so profound when it says, He has determined our appointed times as to what
time-period we should appear on this earth and our exact boundaries, in other
words where we should inhabit. And therefore, how could we allot a place and
name a city after a god. Does this even sound logical?
Jesus never wanted His followers to fight for Him
nor make a shrine and make it big. Unlike the many other religious stories,
Jesus never waged war, captured kingdom nor commanded His followers to promote
Him. It was Constantine after legalizing Christianity in 313 A.D introduced a
place of worship and magnified the building and brought in Greek rituals and
idol worship. His hidden intentions, as commented by historians, had political
connotation. However, Bible strictly condemns idol worship and the worship of
shrines. He is a God who indwells human heart. In fact, He condemned the
religious leaders of His times by saying this, “woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”. Unlike
today’s demands for external purification, Jesus wanted people to cleanse their
heart and ensure their sins are forgiven and they are accepted by Him. He is
perfect in that sense to forgive us for all the dirty things that exist in our
heart and make a dwelling place within our heart. We can make a commitment to
accept this offer and be His child forever.
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