From False Gods to Jesus.
I became fascinated with Asian religions while taking a high school religious studies class.
About that time, I stopped attending church. This was no small thing. I had been confirmed in the Lutheran church, attended Sunday school regularly for more than a decade, and even officiated during the first half of an actual church service. Others thought I would make a good pastor. I, too, considered becoming one.
Later, in a religions class at college, I was given an assignment to make up my own religion. I assume the teacher wanted us students to prove we could apply what was taught in class. I called my new religion “Universal Abstractionism.” My view was that all religious paths lead to the mountain top of enlightenment. I went on to receive a degree in Religious Studies.
Unfortunately, I believed the same lie as Eve – the false promise that I could become like God. Later, I started telling people, “I believe in Hinduism.” I wore a chain and medallion around my neck with an Om symbol. My goal was to be one with God. I thought this was possible if I worked and meditated hard enough.
For twenty years, I put my faith in false gods and even worshiped at the feet of an idol. I tried everything to fill what Blaise Pascal called the “God-shaped vacuum” in my heart. I danced at a Hare Krishna Temple, chanted the Buddhist chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, and practiced other forms of eastern meditation.
God saved me when Diane, whom I later married, gave me a small Four Spiritual Laws tract, and I prayed the short prayer written near the back.
God rescued me from a life of works-based religious bondage. I was free of trying to follow the lies that all paths lead to enlightenment, and that I could be like God. I put my trust in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You can, too.
Join me as we pray for wisdom in my daily prayer challenge.
