#18 Who's Guilty of Wishful Thinking? | Thought For Today

If you’re a Christian, you may have friends or family who see your faith as a crutch, as a form of wishful thinking because we want God to be real. However, what most people fail to realise is that it can often be the other way around - that those not following Christ can be resistant to it because the price they have to pay seems too high.

Let’s look at atheism as an example. For the atheist, they have no one to answer to - from their perspective they are totally in control of their own lives, and deep down many would rather keep it that way. When former atheist CS Lewis became convinced that Christianity was true, he was initially very disappointed about it. He said…

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

C.S Lewis recognised that following Christ would have consequences and it’s not always easy. In today’s culture of instant gratification, Christianity isn’t a crutch, instead it demands a price that many people are unwilling to pay. Jesus said…

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” 

While this may not sound appealing, C.S Lewis and countless others realised that the cost was worth it. Of course, Jesus himself knows what it is to pay a high price for something, giving his very life for us. He is the one who enables us to believe and follow Him and ultimately that leads to true life. That is why Jesus said, 

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 

I’m Becky Gillespie from Thinking Matters and this has been your Thought for Today. For more reasons to believe visit thinkingmatters.org.nz