John 3:16, 1 John 4:16

Suzie Brock

What's not to love about God? And yes I am talking about the God of the Bible, the God who became man in the form of Jesus and the God who died and rose again to save all mankind, that God. The God who is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and who causes these attributes to develop within us when we give place to Him. Really, what is not to love about that God? Why are those of us who choose that God made to feel like second class or old fashioned individuals?

Why is it thought by so many to be an uneducated choice to believe and adhere to a belief in God and His written word the Bible? Why would you not want to believe? This is my question to those who don't choose Him, why in the world not? Is it really so horrible to want to follow a God who promotes mercy, forgiveness, kindness, selflessness and love above all? These are just a few of His amazing traits.

For those who don't believe let me ask this question, what if it is all so wonderfully true? What if this story that has lasted throughout the ages, passed on from generation to generation is actually the whole truth? What if you miss this truth and by choice refuse to know this God of love, thus missing the purpose and meaning of life? How tragic it would be to spend your life struggling through on false beliefs and empty untruths that bring you nowhere and offer you no help. How awful to find out that help was always just a prayer away and comfort only as far as your reach.

I would imagine one of the greatest hindrances to knowing Him, is in not knowing Him; to have a misunderstanding of who He is and what He has done and maybe more importantly in what He has not done. Why do we blame God for wars, deaths, sicknesses and every calamity that befalls man? Why is He not believed in until the moment some tragedy happens and then we believe enough to blame Him? God is not the great scape goat in heaven and not every disaster is an act of God. Men start wars, sickness and natural disasters happen because we are made of flesh and blood and live in a world full of hostile environments and death befalls us all.

Never is sickness, tragedy or death a result of the cruelty of God. To know Him is to know He is not cruel, He is the God of love and He is a God of kindness. To know Him is to love Him, never was a statement more accurate and true.

To those who make the decision to know Him, His heart is to be known by you. Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you, look and He will be found by you and when you find Him you will find His grace and His love. You will find that He is someone worth loving; after all, what's not to love?

'This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.' John 3:16 (MSG)

'We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them'. 1 John 4:16 (NLT)