7 Ways to Avoid God.
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  I think of myself as an average person.  �I don't hate God.  As far as I know
He has done me no harm.  But I do find it difficult to avoid God.

  I am not an atheist.	I am an agnostic.  If there is a God I don't want to
know Him.  �I �prefer to live my own life. �The last thing I want is for God
to get in my way.  So I have set out a personal seven-point plan to�avoid Him.
�With Bibles on display in bookstores, �and churches �on almost every street
corner, my task has not been easy.  �But here is my procedure:

  STEP ONE:  �I sleep Sunday mornings.	�I �personally don't find "sleeping in"
�that easy.  �I have the bad habit of waking early, �even on Sunday.  But �I
�have�solved the problem.  �I�told my doctor �I was�having�a difficult time
sleeping and he gave me some�pills.��About midnight on Saturday �I �swallow
�two pills and am good until eleven o'clock�Sunday morning, which conveniently
is too late to go to church.

  STEP TWO:  ��As a traveling man I keep hotel and motel dresser�drawers
closed.  �In many hotels and motels today a Bible will jump out at you if you
open a drawer.	I�enter my room,�hang up my suitbag and leave my other things
in my open suitcase.  �I�carry an off-color paperback with me�so if there is
nothing to do in town at least �I�can read myself to sleep.  �By the way, �I
don't accept literature from strangers.  �When offered literature I politely
tell people I am too busy to read it.

  STEP THREE:  �I�carefully choose my radio stations.  �Many cities�carry
twenty-four-hour �religious stations.  �Some of their music is good but you
must be wary because they may be skillfully concealing a sharp hook.  Right
while enjoying a fine recording, �some preacher breaks in to tell you that you
are a sinner and need God.  I am on to their tricks, so now I dial a station
that is really rocking and rolling and feel�reasonably safe.

  STEP �FOUR:  �I �avoid Christian businessmen.  �In fact,�I�am a�church
member.  �I�seldom attend,�but my membership has given me�many�good
business�contacts.��But one must be careful.  �I�have�discovered a
fanatical�brand of businessmen who would rather talk to you about�God then
about gold.  �I don't question their sincerity, �but it takes money to feed a
�family, �and that is my first concern.  �When a�Christian businessman invites
me to church or for Bible study, I�usually back cut with, "I have a splitting
headache" (that sounds better than a hangover) "and just can't make it
tonight."

  STEP FIVE:  �I create my own gods.  I have a list of things I�would like to
do but never have time to get done.  So Sunday I play around with the most
attractive items on my list.  I have come to feel that that is what Sunday �is
for.  �Every person should have a hobby and I use Sundays�to spend time on my
hobbies and to do my thing.

  STEP SIX:  I see to it that I am "master of my fate." It is my privilege to
choose to believe in God or to choose not to believe.  �I�accept the old Roman
idea�that death ends everything.  �This�makes the�whole business of escaping
God a lot easier.  �It allows one to sing with �the freedom of a bird, "Eat,
drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die."

  STEP SEVEN:  I can always kill myself.  This I call my desperate step.  I
don't really advocate it and frankly, �I�am chicken.  �But�I know it happens
�many times a day.  �Self-destruction is�a�way�of�escape.  However, it leaves
me a little cold.  Questions pop into my mind.	Is it a copout from life?  �Is
it really escape?  �Does one avoid God in this way or is death the solemn usher
that leads me into the presence of God?

  Now that I have answered questions on what I can do to avoid God I �find
myself faced with an even greater question.  If there is a Supreme Being who
loves me, why should I try to avoid Him?  Is my attempt to hide from God
�inconceivable conceit?  �Would I not be wiser and happier to accept His �love?
�Is it not the fool who says in his heart "There is no God?" Why �run from God?
�His invitation is pretty inviting for a man who �is tired of running:	"Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"
(Matthew 11:28)

  After �running for so long I gave God my worries and accepted His �rest.  I
found it so easy.  �I just said, "Jesus, �You please take my sin and I will
take Your salvation." �God and I made the trade and I am no longer running, I
am resting in His salvation.  I have thrown my list away.  If you will do what
I did, you won't need your list either.  �"And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21).