Everywhere I Go: Learning to See JesusBeispiel

PRACTICAL ATHEISM Not too many folks will tell you, "I'm an atheist." At least not with their words. But the lifestyles of many say otherwise. I know a lot of people (and you do, too) who are living their lives as if there were no God. They are what I call "practical atheists." Not practicing. Practical. They do not take God into consideration. They leave Him out of their reckoning, their speech, their plans and their deeds. When German theologian Martin Luther was going through a period of dark depression, his wife Katherine was worried. Day after day, Luther would lock himself in his study and cry and pray and bemoan the state of the world. Finally, Katherine appeared before him dressed in black from head to foot. "What are you doing?" he asked her. "Why are you dressed in mourning clothes?" She replied, "You, good doctor, are acting as if God were dead, so I shall dress as if He were!" Are you living like a practical atheistﾗdisregarding God's commands and precepts, relying on your own wisdom, and refusing to hope in the goodness of God the Father? Or is your belief in God evident in your speech, your refusal to judge your brothers and sisters, and your surrender to God's leading day by day? Faith without works is dead faith, James would say. Don't let your life deny your belief in God.