I have often quipped that if “ignorance is bliss,” then I should be a much happier person than I am. The phrase “ignorance is bliss” is, according to the Urban Dictionary, “a term used to falsely justify apathy on the given subject in the form of a catchy cliché.” Ouch!
Sometimes, joking needs to give way to reality. From time to time realism rears its ugly head and reminds us that ignorance can actually be devastating. This is illustrated by a story of some aid workers in Africa who were helping with the deadly Ebola virus last year.
The BBC reported about one particular team of eight workers who had traveled to Guinea in order to educate villagers about the dangers of the Ebola virus. There had been a lot of confusion about why medical personnel were separating family members who were infected with the virus. The problem was that many of the natives did not understand how the disease spread from one person to another.
One day a group of villagers near the city of Nzerekore, Guinea found the eight aid workers and killed them with machetes and clubs. Some of the bodies were later found in a nearby septic tank. An understanding of the truth about Ebola would have probably saved the lives of those aid workers, as well as keeping many of the villagers from getting infected. Ignorance was literally killing people. The same can also be said when it comes to what we know about God. Over the years I have talked to a lot of people who really don’t care what the Bible says about sin and how to get to heaven. Often people tell me that they are comfortable with their own beliefs about religion so they aren’t interested in learning anything from the Bible. Religion is something they just don’t want to talk about. Jesus knew how vitally important it was for people to learn about the deadly the sin “virus”. That is why He warned us that those without a personal relationship with Him would spend eternity “In that place [where] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth….” (Luke 13:28). It’s not enough for us to trust in our own ideas, even if they are sincerely held. Our eternal destiny needs to be rooted in the truth. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, understood the danger of trusting what seemed like the right thing: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). We don’t have to wonder about what is true about God and what is not true. God has revealed Himself to us in the written Word and through the personal life of Jesus Christ. Many years ago when I put my full trust in Jesus Christ, my life became radically different. I experienced the Lord’s promise that, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Jesus set me free from guilt, and He became an intimate companion to me. What I believe, though, isn’t true just because I believe it. There needs to be an unchanging and reliable source of truth that we all can rely on. The Bible has stood the test of time and has never been proved to be in error. I am so glad that God did not leave us here on earth to blindly grope for the meaning of life and the solution to sin. If you would like a Bible and/or a Bible study guide without any charge, please let me know. Truth doesn’t come from me, but I can point you to where you can find truth for yourself. Let’s be careful that we seek to know the truth as God has revealed it, before we just become satisfied with what we think we know.
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