Assumption
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A family of five people rushed to the hospital late one afternoon after eating supper. Their supper had included wild mushrooms that were picked earlier that day. Upon finishing what they wanted to eat, they fed the scraps to their dog who quickly ate everything that was left. Within just a few minutes, the dog was not acting like herself and seemed to be sick to her stomach. The family began to worry and loaded up in the car and headed to the hospital. They still didn’t show any signs of illness, however the doctor still had their stomach’s pumped just as a precaution. Upon returning home, they found their beloved dog feeling just fine...and right beside her were four baby puppies.
Assumptions are often used to come to a conclusion in certain situations. There are situations when we don’t have all of the information and therefore must base a decision on the partial information that we do have. If my house is full of smoke, I am going to assume that it is on fire and get my family out of the house until I can know for sure. However these assumptions that we make are sometimes very wrong. We are rarely in a situation where we cannot get the information we need to form a proper conclusion. However, many times we may find ourselves in a situation where we really don’t want to spend the effort to find the truth.
Other times we make assumptions on things based on what we have heard from others. We build on their thoughts, experience (or lack of it), and words to develop our own assumption which then steers the decisions we make. If my four year old came to me and told me that the house was on fire, I would be very concerned and might immediately tell the rest of the family to get out of the house. I then would investigate before calling the fire department to make sure that what she perceived as a dangerous fire was in fact dangerous and not just a burning candle or such.
Other times we make assumptions based on false information. I have woke up panicking having dreamed that the house was on fire and it took everything my wife could do to get me calmed down and keep me from running out of the house in the middle of the night for no reason.
It is very ease to base our beliefs on assumptions. When we haven’t researched the whole truth on a matter, and we hear someone say something that sounds good, and we want to believe it then we quickly can form something false into what we believe to be truth. Assumptions are just that. They are assumed truths, but are not based on truth. They might be truth, or they might not.
If we base our hope in heaven on assumptions we are playing a very dangerous game. We might be right, we might not. We might not have all of the information, however with a little effort we can find the truth in God’s word. We might be basing our faith on what someone has told us, yet with a little bit of effort we can find truth in God’s word. We might be making assumptions based on false information, yet with a little bit of effort we can find truth in God’s word. When it comes to our hope for heaven we don’t have to live with assumptions. We don’t have to wonder or find out too late that we are wrong. We can know the truth because God has given us the truth. The stakes are too high to base our faith on assumptions. Find truth for yourself. Base your faith on the rock solid truth of the word of God. If it is not in His word, then it is an assumption and likely wrong.
“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
—Proverbs 16:25
