22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:22-24, King James Version)
Sometimes it can be a struggle to come up with article subjects, and sometimes they are just handed to me. Twice this week, the subject of “reality” has come up.
What is real? If reality is “the state of things as they actually exist” (Wikipedia), then how is it that I can perceive things one way and you can perceive them quite differently?
Believing in things that do not exist or denying things that do exist is not facing reality. It is insanity.
Sanity is considered the norm. A normal functioning person should be able to face reality in all of its facets. However, how many truly normal people do you know? I would argue that insanity is actually the norm, and only the rare person is truly sane.
How can I say that? Well, in so many words, the Bible actually tells me thus. If sanity is facing reality, then insanity is believing a lie. A lie obviously is the opposite of the truth. Believing in the lie is the same as being deceived.
9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9, King James Version)
The entire world, then, is insane. When you look at things like the nuclear arms race, you are witnessing insanity. When you see the belief that entire countries can survive nuclear warfare and its resultant fallout, you are witnessing insanity. When you see people killing innocent bystanders in the name of their god or religion, you are witnessing insanity.
And, why wouldn’t it be insane? The “god of this world” is insane, is he not? Did not Lucifer believe he could ascend to Heaven and kick God off of His throne? How insane is that?
Again, what is reality? Is this physical existence reality? After all, it is only temporary. It will evaporate away someday and give place to something much more enduring and permanent. It actually is more like a façade. It is only the exterior of a deeper reality.
God is permanent. God is enduring. God is everlasting. God is eternal. God is the reality we need to seek.
How does God let us know what reality is? That takes some work, but it is ever before you if you live in a land with either a printing press or Internet access. It is all around us in the Western nations, but it is one of the most ignored sources of information in the world.
Because another word for “reality” is “truth”.
“Thy word is truth.”