Nirvana

​You’ve no doubt heard someone say “All roads lead to God.”  While the statement may be sincere and reflect a desire to be nonjudgmental, it reveals a great lack of judgment.  To understand this one needs only to visit India where the prevailing religion is Hinduism and the overwhelming sensation is one of hopelessness. A country gifted with incredibly smart people remains mired in poverty, disease, and a resigned acceptance of chaos as normative.  

The contrast between Hinduism and Christianity is as stark as light to the absence of light.  While those in Hinduism maintain a fatalistic outlook, those who follow Jesus reveal a joy in the journey and a great hope in the great finale.  Those who love God’s Son and choose to make Him their Lord truly shine like lights in the darkness.  They are not cowed by death and endless reincarnations.  They are unwilling to let people suffer because it is their karma.  Rather they choose to share a love that is transforming and as refreshing as cold water to parched lips.

Repeatedly I met Christians who believe in the power of God because they have experienced physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.  I saw the effects of grace on faces acquainted with suffering. I prayed with Hindus eager to embrace a Jesus Who offers mercy and hope not found in their hundreds of thousands of deities.   I watched men and women, young and old, worship with contagious zeal the Almighty God described in the Bible.  

It makes more sense to be an atheist than to propose that any belief regarding God or gods is valid.  You cannot have it all ways without committing intellectual suicide.  Jesus made the claim that no one can come to God except through Him (John 14:6).  The validity of His words is profoundly visible in the lives of His Indian disciples. Jesus gives life meaning!  In contrast, those who seek nirvana find emptiness.  By rejecting Jesus’ offer of salvation Hinduism renders life miserable.  But don’t take my words for it—go see for yourself. 
 
Meditation
John 1:4,5--Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.  That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.
 
Perhaps you’ve never experienced the joy of living a liberated life.   If you would like to know God He makes it simple to find Him—simply admit that you are a sinner, place your trust in Jesus, and ask Him to forgive your sins and to be your Savior and Lord.  “ Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame. . . For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:11,13). It’s not too late!  You’re not beyond hope!  God loves you and offers you the opportunity to live with Him in glory forever . . . something to think about in reveration!  
 
Inspiration
Nirvana is a Sanscrit word which means “a blowing out,” like a candle.  The abiding tendency of the experience in life without a personal knowledge of God is to become more and more convinced that individual life is a delusion.  Spiritually it is made to mean that we have to lose ourselves in God.  That is never taught in the Bible.—Oswald Chambers in Notes on Jeremiah
 
©2002 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)