December 14, 2012: 27 people killed, most of which are elementary-age kids, in a shooting in Connecticut. A couple of days ago: a man jumped off a bridge and was ran over by 4 cars. Over a decado ago: two students killed 14 people at Columbine High School in Colorado. More than 500 children die everyday due to hunger, homelessness, and disease. There are countless wars happening in the world.
--Too many lives are being taken; taken at a young age.--
But, why? Why do bad things exist? Why do bad things happen? Why are there bad people in the world?
So what do we choose to focus on in this world? Money. Sports. Rappers. Clothes. Cars. But what do these things do for us? NOTHING. It is devastating that in today's world, the majority of people would rather spend thousands upon thousands, millions even, on material objects such as houses and cars than give it to people in need. It pains me to see people bullying and tearing people down rather than motivating them and building me up. I cannot fathom why more people are more interested in watching a football game for 4 hours than spending just one measly hour working at a local rescue mission. This still doesn't answer the question of why? Why, why, why?
I didn't know the answer to those questions myself until a wise man gave me the answer. He explained it to me very clearly:
God created this world in his domain. He made the sky, the trees, the oceans, the heavens, hell, and everyone. God's love for us is incomprehensible by the human mind. It's something that cannot be grasped by any human. He created all of us for a specific purpose and calls us to do something that will ultimately bring us back to him. About 2,000 years ago, God saw what the world was becoming. He saw the hatred, and the greed, and the manipulation, and the devastation; he saw the world being completely immersed in sin. But God didn't want it to be that way. He said "no." He said "I love the world and everyone in it too much for it to be this way." He said "I don't want for my children to have to live in this." Back then, when a person was caught sinning, he or she was usually killed. If you know anything abou the 10 Commandments, you'd know that everyone has sinned in his or her lifetime. It's an inevitable part of life. So, God sent His One and Only Son to the earth. He sent His Son that He could save the world. He sent Jesus. God knew that Jesus would die a painful death for a crime that He didn't commit: sinning. But God loved us that much. I don't know about you, but I don't know too many people that would send their only son to die for the world. Anyways, after Jesus' death and Resurrection, the world was freed. It was free from having that burden of having a fear of sin on its shoulders.
When God puts on this earth, we are given the opportunity to enter into a relationship with Jesus. We are given the opportunity to experience the greatest love story of all time. We are given the chance to feel the most love and grace that we could ever imagine. Some people take advantage of that opportunity and go on to experience the awesomeness that comes along with having that relationship. But, the majority of people don't take that advantage. They say "Thanks, but no thanks" and they turn their back on Jesus. This turning away opens the door for sin. It opens the door for hatred, greed, manipulation, and devastation. The horrible phenomena enter into the souls of people and take over their life. Then, those people become frustrated and take it out on innocent people. They kill. They steal. They beat. They wage wars. They disobey.
So this brings us back to the original question: why? Why?
Well, I could just sum it up in one small sentence here, but I would advise reading The Bible. It is a true, 100% accurate account of the greatest love story ever told. But the best thing about it is: we are able to experience it without paying the same price that Jesus did.
