are you a betting man/woman?

Rarely, if ever, will you get someone who doesn’t want you to pray for them. It’s not as if they are going to say, “I forbid you to pray for me,” because they know you will pray anyway. Now, praying aloud in front of them is another issue, but even then, self-described atheists still want you to pray with them most of the time, so they can “cover all the bases.”

This reminds me of the old Pascal’s wager. Named after philosopher, Blaise Pascal, it is betting if there is a God or not. Modified further, I would say it this way concerning Jesus as God.

First a disclaimer: If you follow Jesus, just about anyone from any religion or no religion at all will tell you that’s a good thing. Jesus is a good model to follow. Conceding this hypothesis, then the wager looks like this.

I am betting my life on Jesus as my Savior and following him. If he is who he says he is, then I must realize he is my Savior, want him in my life, and I will live with him forever. In the meantime my life on earth will be blessed as I am following him, whether I am right about him or not.

Now, if I bet my life that he is my Savior and he isn’t, there are two likely scenerios:

1. All people get to live with him forever, whether they want him as their Savior or not. This has been called “universal salvation.”

2. He isn’t who he says he is, there is no afterlife, but following him blesses my present life, regardless.

If the first scenario is false, do I want to bet my eternal life that I will be saved no matter what I believe, even though he clearly says, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to God except through me?”

If the second scenario is false, and he is who he says he is, then I get blessed by following him in this life, but I don’t get to live with him forever.

The best option would be simply trust in him as my Savior and follow him. That way, if he is who he says he is, I get to live with him forever. What is the downside? Almost everyone, regardless of worldview, admires the model Jesus follows.