The Benefits of Believing in God 2

The present state of affairs with mankind is that of the craze of material things and the total neglect of the need to build for self a clear state of spirituality whereby the words of God are respected and operationalized through the Scripture of the upheld religion.

This is the major reason why Jesus Christ was able to defeat Satan with his antics by refusing to take orders from Satan while at the same time rejecting its command to breakfast and turn stone into bread, but rather Jesus taught us all to be mindful of the need to prefer and work for spiritual diet, as contained in Mattew 4: 8-10.

Similarly, the Holy Quran submitted that only referred people by God are those who respect the ordinances of God and act on them to live by them as exemplars for others to follow(Quran 49:13).

Jesus Christ stated proverbially in Mark 4: 3-8,''Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred.''

The seeds can be likened to the words of God, while the ground varies according to the texture, nutrients, and components that are of vital importance to the responses.

The rate of responsiveness to the stimuli of advice, counseling, sermons, and lectures differs from one individual to another. Some suffer from loss of memory or inability to retain and recall lessons taught, such people equally suffer from unnecessary distractions of life making the religion non-functional in them.

The above constitute the first category of those that attend religious houses.

The second category is those people without faith, but either coincidentally find themselves in the houses of God or are dragged there by perhaps, by their parents or influential friends. Much as they admire the sermon, it might not necessarily benefit them because they lack faith.

The third category is the set of people who live among bad friends or peers, whose influences would not make the word of God impact positively in them.

The fourth category is the set of people with the right background of discipline and respect for morality. Such people easily identify with the activities and teachings in the houses of God and of religious leaders as a good service to themselves with many benefits to others.

The first three categories mentioned above must brace up to have better orientation not to be recipients of the statement in Isaiah 6:9-10: ''9And he said, Go, and tell these people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10Make the heart of these people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. '' Such people are equally described in the Holy Quran 2: 18, ''Deaf, dumb and blind - so they will not return [to the right path].''

The Holy Quran 2: 6-10 equally warns us to be believers rather than people who reject faith or go contrary to the behavioral objectives of the Scripture: ''6. As for those who disbelieve—it is the same for them, whether you have warned them, or have not warned them—they do not believe.

7. God has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and over their vision is a veil. They will have severe torment.

8. Among the people are those who say, “We believe in God and in the Last Day,” but they are not believers.

9. They seek to deceive God and those who believe, but they deceive none but themselves, though they are not aware.

10. In their hearts is sickness, and God has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment because of their denial.''

To be successful in life, there is a need for divine inspirational energy to drive every social desire according to the Chemistry of achievement, which is : 

Altitude=Aptitude + Attitude

In religious parlance, Altitude is to achieve maximally the comforts of life as well as not losing the benefits of the hereafter(Quran 2: 201-202).

Aptitude represents efforts made in life to acquire wealth and status maximally to the point of power, influence, and affluence with assertive authority.

The benefits of believing in God cannot be overemphasized, but we can only achieve it through due process and the fear of God expected to manifest in our ability to do things accordingly and aright(Quran 3: 102 and John 4: 34).

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria