Our value systems are those things that we place in the order of importance in our lives, and there are nearly eight billion of us on this planet at the time of this writing, so it would be absurd to say that we are all different in this area. So then, if this last statement is true, all of our value-based ideas are the same in one form or another, we all hold as worthwhile the same things in our lives.
This may seem to be oxymoronic, but I can assure you that there is no contradiction, the statement is factual if one will just follow the path of logic, the path that has been set before every human being based on the truths of the Word of God. There is a first order of importance and there is a last, everything in between in set upon us by our own free will, for the most part, unless the pathway to that importance has been blocked by external forces. Nearly every value system that we have placed upon ourselves comes in a specific order, and that order is based on either logic or emotion, there are as far as I can determine no other viable alternatives. Let us start with the easiest one first, that of logic, based upon the prescribed and predetermined structure of the physical realm that our Lord has set in place for us in His creation.
At the top of the chain here is the continuance of the flesh, our bodies, the highest priority for them is not the safety of them as we have been led to believe by the worlds system, we have as a whole determined to give up many of our freedoms for protection, the amount of protection though does not determine freedom or the amount of it that we value. Food and water, these are the highest priority for the flesh, all else is secondary, if you do not keep the body nourished, no amount of value of any other sort will be of any use to us, we will die without these two initial needs. Everything beneath these two needs will be of no profit to us, all other value-based ideologies underneath these two will be of no avail to anyone without them. So then, to keep the body alive is the prerequisite to any other system of structure, beneath food and water, no other value is as important in the logical, physical context.
That leaves us with the emotional, and here is where we find the greatest variances to our thought processes, there is always a top priority for everyone, but there can be no differentiation in this procedure, for we were all created in the image of God. It makes absolutely no difference what your religious ideology is, what church you attend, whether or not you think there is a heaven or hell, saved or unsaved, all were made in the image of God. Whether someone believes this or not is immaterial, the truth of the Word of God is as unchangeable as He Himself is, what we believe does not alter the truth. Our belief, or lack thereof in the authenticity of God has no effect whatsoever on the reality that He indeed does exist, we do not need faith in Him to prove His existence, He is, and no one’s thought processes in any varied form is going to change that.
The emotional state that any human being has toward anything can alter only their own perception of truth, not the reality of the truth itself, you can believe all you want that you can stop that train coming down the tracks towards you, but as soon as it hits you, you will find out that you were wrong, some individuals feel as if they are in the wrong gender body, but even a sex change is not going to alter their genetic structure, the perception of reality is only modified within the individual, not the truth of what is. The one thing that the majority of people on this planet value above all other things then does not change with perception, it is not altered by logic or emotion, it does not change, it is the preservation of their own life, which means that all understand the concept of death, the inevitability of it.
The question then, if this statement is true is why, why do we place such a high value on that which we truly have no short or long term control over, why is there such an inborn desire within each of us to stay alive? Your spouse, family, friends, pets, home, shall I go on, shall I attempt to place in order the value structure that is prevalent to every human being, is the beginning always the same, we come first, or has there been instilled in each and every one of us a different value structure, an order of importance that many refuse to admit, is God at the forefront of every persons deepest thoughts, and we just will not admit it.
Wood, stone, precious and non-precious metals, man has always made a god for himself, you do not need to have picked up a Bible for the entirety of your life to know this, money, family, ourselves, we all serve something, and the majority of human beings have chosen for themselves who or what that god is. It is in our very nature to serve, but few will determine in faith that it is a Sovereign God that put that determination within us. “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” (Exo. 32:1) Why? Why the need to have someone or something to lead them, why not just start walking, pick a direction and go, presidents, prime ministers, even dictators, why do we need to follow.
There are approximately five-thousand different religions on the earth right now, why do all these people feel a need to follow, what is it inside of themselves that says that they are not enough, that without a leader they will falter and fail. It is usually quite easy to readjust the thinking of those who profess themselves to be atheist, for in just a short amount of time they will admit that they themselves are the god that they serve, and so then service to something is still the focal point. This in itself of course is always questioned though within their own minds, for doubt is the determining factor of any discussion on the eternal state of man. To create doubt is easy, to instill faith can only come from God, in either case there is a predetermined case for a value system that is outside of the individual, one that is always above them, more powerful than themselves, one whom they would follow if only they knew Him to be real.
No one comes to God unless He calls them, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44), and although the miracle of people having dreams and visions, (Acts 2:7) has been going on for about fifteen years or so now in certain parts of the world, our Lord has always used the same way to call people to Himself since Christ’s work on the cross, right after the day of Pentecost, by the power of the Holy Spirit. His work is done by those who have the Holy Spirit of God within them, they are His emissaries, it is their responsibility, honor and privilege to go into all the world, (Mark 16:15) to tell others that their value system is skewed, that there is more than what they have placed at the top of their priority level. You are to go, you are by the foolishness of preaching (1st Cor. 1:21) told to go and speak to them, you cannot call them, that is Gods job, we do not even know if those that we are speaking to are called, but that does not alter the command, we are to speak. Not just invite them to church, not just pray for them, not become friends first with them and then ask politely if we can talk to them about Christ, we are to go.
You see my friends, it doesn’t make any difference if they believe in God or not, it makes no difference if they think that Christ is the only way to the Father, it does not change the facts in one bit, just because we believe something does not make it true, truth is dogmatic, it cannot be changed. Our responsibility is to help them to see the truth, this is not a suggestion from the Lord, it is a commandment, and commandments are not to be questioned, there are no excuses for those who will not obey once they have been shown the truth. Every single person on this planet who does not serve Christ as Savior has a misplaced value system, and there is no one with a viable excuse. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Rom. 1:20) The main question is then, what is your excuse, do you have anything in your life that is held before your allegiance to Christ, what have you set ahead of Him, is your value system placed in its proper order.
We may not like to think it out loud, as it were, but all of us for the most part have something that we have placed before our service to the Lord, fear of reproof, not only from the lost but also from our brothers and sisters in Christ, fear of the unknown, even when we are assured of certain Scripture verses, fear of losing what we have come to expect, fear is the adversaries greatest weapon, along with doubt, “Hath not God said” still works quite well for Him. If you can say “To live is Christ, to die is gain,” (Phil. 1:21) if you can love not your life to the end, then your value system is in the correct place, if not, then you have some praying to do.
Our faith, our belief in the Lord God does not make Him any more or less real, He is, with or without us. The determining factor of your walk with Him is the belief that you place in Him, the trust that you have given to Him, the value-based thoughts will follow.
