Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, philosopher, physicist, and theologian. Pascal made famous an interesting argument for the existence of God: PASCAL’S WAGER. Imagine life as a bet. Pascal says it may be difficult to prove the existence of God with reason, but because life is a wager, we should wager that God DOES exist. Why? Because if you and I make a bet, and I bet God exists and you bet that He does not, then when we die, if I am wrong, I have lost nothing. But if you are wrong, you have lost everything.
Think of it this way—if I follow the Bible and do my best to live a life pleasing to God, but at death discover there is no God, what have I lost? I have lived a fulfilling, successful life. But if you are betting there is no God, you will probably to live a life that is sometimes quite selfish and principled only as long as the principles continue to appeal to you. If you then die and discover that the claims of the Bible are true, then you have lost everything. This is like betting with odds, and the odds are a dollar against a million—if I lose, I lose a dollar, but if I win, I win a million.
Psalm 128 reminds me of Pascal’s message to the believer—that even if there were no heaven, following God’s word will cause us to enjoy a good life HERE ON EARTH:
“How happy is the man who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! You will eat what your hands have worked for, you will be happy, and it will go well for you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your house, your sons like young olive trees around your table. In this way the man who fears the Lord will be blessed. May the Lord bless you from Zion, so that you … will see your children’s children!” Psalm 128:1-6.
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