Our family was celebrating our first vacation together in over two years and were seated at a restaurant known for its creative cocktails. I was eager to sample some of their specialties and ordered one for my wife and I to try. When the cocktails arrived, my daughter was intrigued by one of the drinks and asked to try it. As she was tasting it, our server came over and asked my daughter for an ID. We chuckled since, although my daughter is an adult, she always looked young for her age. She produced her driver’s license and handed it to the server. His answer surprised us.
“Sorry, we can’t accept this because it’s not horizontal. In this state, we can only accept a driver’s license as proof of adulthood if it is horizontal, not vertical.”
I pointed to the license. “But look at the birth date, she’s almost 22 years old!”
The server shook his head. “I understand. But in this state, only a horizontal driver’s license is accepted regardless of what the birthdate is.”
When my daughter received her initial driver’s license, she was 16 years old. Several states, including the one in which we live, issue driver’s licenses with the photograph in a vertical configuration, if they are a minor at the time they obtain their license. This facilitates rapid screening for businesses such as bars, restaurants, and liquor stores which will not serve minors. Unfortunately, some states will only recognize this configuration and ignore the birth date, even if the holder is 21 years of age. We obeyed the policy even though we disagreed with it. The proof was clearly stated yet a quirk in the local law overruled the truth.
Man’s laws and regulations are occasionally in conflict with the truth. This was a simple example but there are other egregious examples when it involves our spiritual relationship with God. This world was created by God and all of the forces of nature are subject to His will. The complexity of life should point us to an even greater and more complex Creator. Yet, too often, man substitutes his own explanations.
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Romans 1:18-20 (NLT)
God has placed evidence of His existence into His very creation. Yet, His Truth has been suppressed by man made institutions. Instead of believing that God created the universe, scientists will postulate that it all began with the Big Bang, a singularity that contained all of the matter and energy of the entire universe. While this theory may explain what happened, it overlooks a far more critical question. How did this singularity occur? Something cannot appear from nothing. It is a scientific impossibility. The only explanation has been revealed by God’s Word. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1). Only an eternal and omnipotent God could create the universe from nothing.
The Truth is plainly evident in spite of what man states or creates. The cleverness of man will never surpass the magnificence of God.
Amen!
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
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