How To Find True Religion

'If truth from God really exists, why must I search to find it?' Some ask. 'If God has an important message for all mankind, would he not convey it clearly enough so that people would grasp it immediately, without the need for investigation?"

SURELY God has the ability to do such a thing. But is that the way he has chosen to communicate truth?


How God Conveys Truth

Actually, God conveys his messages in a way that allows sincere seekers of truth to search them out. (Psalm 14:2) Consider the message that God delivered through his prophet Jeremiah centuries ago. It was given to God's wayward people regarding the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. -Jeremiah 25:8-11; 52:12-14.

Yet, at the same time, other prophets claimed to speak for God. Hananiah foretold peace for Jerusalem. That was a very different message from the one that Jeremiah delivered. So whom was a person at that time to believe-Jeremiah or those who contradicted him? -Jeremiah 23:16, 17; 28:1, 2, 10-17.

To know who was right, sincere Jews needed to know Jehovah as a person. they needed to understand his laws and principles, as well as his attitude toward wrongdoing. Doing so, they would have agreed with God's words spoken through Jeremiah that "there was not a man repenting over his badness." (Jeremiah 8:5-7) Furthermore, they would have discerned that this sad situation did not bode will for Jerusalem and its inhabitants. -Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Jeremiah 52:4-14.

Jeremiah's prophecies came true. The city was razed by the Babylonians in 607 B.C.E. Although the consequences of disobedience were foretold long in advance, effort was needed to recognize that the time had arrived for God to take action.

Next time: How To Find True Religion- What About Christian Truth?

Awake! 2008