One more human opinion

I Thessalonians 2:13
And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn't pass it off as juist one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God's true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers.

That is such a battle today. We have become too sophisticated as a society to accept the Message of God. I hear people all the time saying, "We're all trying to get to the same place." meaning all faiths, all religions, all ways of thinking. The problem is that Salvation through Christ is not just one more human opinion; it is the only way to get there. How do we communicate that to others without offending and turning them away? We have to show them--words are cheap. I have often told of the conversation I had with my mother about two months before she died. We were on our way home from her weekly doctor's appointment in OKC and were facing some grim realities. She told me, "I have prepared for this my entire life, and even if I have been wrong, even if there is no heaven, I believe that following the teachings of Jesus has been a better way to live my life." That was the day I realized two things--first, my MOM experienced doubt--I never dreamed, and second, she was so far beyond me in her faith. I was a Christian because I wanted to go to heaven. It has been twelve years since that conversation, and I now know what she was saying. I have had so many people tell me what an influence my mother was on their lives. Why? Because she lived it, faith was not just something she passed of as a human opinion--she took it to heart.
I didn't always make my mother proud--she probably wanted to pinch my head off many times, but as time goes on, I continue to follow the lessons she instilled in me. I wish I could thank her "an artesian well of thanks."