The Atheist and the Bear
You know, I've seen this particular email joke several times (it's still funny) but I just received a revelation. If you haven't seen it before go ahead and read it. Then I'll pick up again at the bottom of the page. . . . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
As he continued walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a 7 foot grizzly charging towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster.
He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear raising his paw to take a swipe at him. At that instant the atheist cried out: "Oh my God"! Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent.
It was then that a bright light shone upon the man and a voice came out of the sky saying:
"You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"
The atheist looked directly into the light.
"It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice. The light went out, and the sounds of the forest resumed.
And then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke:
"Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful, Amen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm back. . . . .
First, yes it would be hypocritical for the atheist to ask that - it might also be realistic but that another discussion. However, it is fully within God's grace to do so, if the request is authentic. The guy simply didn't pursue the right path and ask the right question. And, God won't force anyone to make that choice.
Second, Christians tend to "eat up" the others around us just like the bear. Although God "created" a Christian out of the bear, the bear's behavior did not change sufficiently as a result - only the rationale for the behavior changed. Otherwise, there was no transformation. Unfortunately, this is frequently what the world sees. There shold be real transformation.
And third, the atheist got the same result even after his encounter with God. Sometimes God intervenes in ways that change the outcome of things. Other times He changes the people involved. As a friend of mine recently said, "God always answers prayer. And you only get one of three answers - yes, no, or wait." The atheist got what he asked for - but not exactly what he asked for. . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
As he continued walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a 7 foot grizzly charging towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster.
He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear raising his paw to take a swipe at him. At that instant the atheist cried out: "Oh my God"! Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent.
It was then that a bright light shone upon the man and a voice came out of the sky saying:
"You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"
The atheist looked directly into the light.
"It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice. The light went out, and the sounds of the forest resumed.
And then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke:
"Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful, Amen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm back. . . . .
First, yes it would be hypocritical for the atheist to ask that - it might also be realistic but that another discussion. However, it is fully within God's grace to do so, if the request is authentic. The guy simply didn't pursue the right path and ask the right question. And, God won't force anyone to make that choice.
Second, Christians tend to "eat up" the others around us just like the bear. Although God "created" a Christian out of the bear, the bear's behavior did not change sufficiently as a result - only the rationale for the behavior changed. Otherwise, there was no transformation. Unfortunately, this is frequently what the world sees. There shold be real transformation.
And third, the atheist got the same result even after his encounter with God. Sometimes God intervenes in ways that change the outcome of things. Other times He changes the people involved. As a friend of mine recently said, "God always answers prayer. And you only get one of three answers - yes, no, or wait." The atheist got what he asked for - but not exactly what he asked for. . . .
posted by genebko at
3:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home