So, You Are a Christian, So What!

Is being a Christian an important part of living on earth? Does it matter what you believe or think? What you structure your life around is extremely important. It determines the type of life you will live, your health, your longevity, your mental well-being, and your joy in life. The most obvious benefit of being a Christian is living with God in heaven for eternity. There is nothing more important in this world than your relationship with God. As you will read, a relationship with Christ brings other significant benefits! I will cover many of those aspects in this book. First, you need to realize that God is real. If you come to understand that God is real, then if you are not a Christian, you will change your beliefs. You will need to surrender your life and existence to the Creator of the universe. It would make no logical sense not to believe in Him. I will show you the scientific and Biblical evidence that will logically convince you of God's existence. The book will reveal the magnificence of God's creation, filled with such intricacy and perfect design that only an all-powerful designer could accomplish. This book will show you God's plans revealed throughout Scripture and the eventual merging of the spiritual and physical realms. You will discover how to live a great life through centering your life on Jesus. Christians reap many health and mental health benefits and live longer. So, through Christ, Christians, on average, live longer, healthier, joyful, and fulfilling lives. The best way to live that life is to develop a God-centered paradigm. Here is a short synopsis of what that entails. Living Your Life with a God-Centered Paradigm I published a book titled Believing is Seeing - Focus Through a God- Centered Paradigm. The book deals with paradigms, perception, reality, and living a Christian life. As an ophthalmologist, I have been intrigued by how two people can look at the same object or event in life and see something totally different. There is a true or ultimate reality that occurred. Who was right, or maybe neither was correct, about the true facts of the event? How does this happen, and how does this relate to God? Why do some people receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior while others fail to recognize God in this world? Well, it has to do with each person's paradigm. What is a Paradigm? I am sure you have heard the word many times, but do you really know how paradigms affect everyone's life? A paradigm is a set of assumptions, concepts, beliefs, values, and/or practices that constitute a way of seeing, viewing, or perceiving reality, accepted by a group, culture, or community as normal or scientifically correct. Paradigms exist in cultures, countries, and businesses, and each individual has their own unique paradigm. Your paradigm is composed of everything you have studied, everything you have observed in life, and all the events and experiences that have occurred in your life. Your paradigm changes minimally from day to day unless a significant emotional event occurs, such as the sudden loss of a loved one, another tragedy, or an extremely happy event, such as your wedding day. Your paradigm may shift tremendously at that time. Just like a fingerprint, your paradigm is unique to you. The next question is, does it matter what your particular paradigm is composed of? Your paradigm determines what you see, how you perceive things and events in life, and how you react to everything in your environment. It is at the core of who you are as a person. Do you have a short temper, or do you live life with peace and joy? How do events, people, the chaos of today's world, the stress of your job, and family issues affect you? Your paradigm will direct your response to everything in your life. Your paradigm can have significant consequences as an eyewitness to a crime, accident, or other event, as your paradigm may be skewed and highly unreliable in many cases due to each person's perception or paradigm. Numerous instances show people being convicted of a crime based on an eyewitness account that later proved wrong. Your reaction to an incident may be far out of line with the severity of the event because your paradigm is shaped by past experiences. The most important decision anyone will ever make is accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Your perception of who God is will determine your ability to accept him as your Savior. The benefit of that is that you will have eternal life in heaven. But what about living a God-centered or Christian life here on earth? What does your paradigm have to do with that? As an ophthalmologist, one of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in Mathew. I will emphasize these verses more than once in the book. Mathew 6:22-23 NLT Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! Is Jesus talking about the actual health of your eyes or body in these verses? No, he is not saying that you don't have macular degeneration, glaucoma, or cataracts. He is not saying that you could come into my office and rapidly read the 20/20 line on the eye chart. I think that he is making two points in these verses. The first point that he is making is that whatever you focus your eyes on, whatever you pay attention to in your life, or how you live your life, will affect your whole body or you as a person. If you focus your life on righteous things, good things, and live your life according to God's design, you will live a happy, joyful, and peaceful life. Your body will be full of light. Who is the light of the world? Jesus is the light of the world! You will be full of the Holy Spirit and live your life according to his will and guidance. If you live your life according to your desires and focus it on earthly things, you will be lost in darkness. And if you think that you have the answer or know what is best, then how deep is that darkness? Your perception or paradigm will keep you from seeing the true light. Shifting your paradigm to one centered on God will be difficult, if not impossible, for many people. Their paradigm will blind them from the truth. They will never see the true light of the world.