Words, words, words!  Tell me what you want to say and make it brief!”

“God so loved the world that-”

“If only I could believe that!  The world is so full of bloodshed and misery I can hardly bear to think about it.  If God did love the world so much, why is it in such a mess?  Why doesn’t He do something?”

“He has done something. ‘He gave His only begotten Son…’”

“But what did that achieve?  Why tell us to love our neighbours and even our enemies when we never can?  Or did He just come to set an example of patient suffering?”

“Not at all.  He died ‘that whoever believes in Him should not perish…’.  In giving His life Jesus died in our place, for our sins, so that we could be forgiven.  He never sinned, but He took the punishment for ours.”

“What?  Like paying a ransom for us?”

“Yes, but not just that.  He also rose from the dead so that we would not die ‘but have everlasting life’.”

“Oh great!  Sitting on a cloud playing a harp forever, I suppose?”

“No, not at all.  His desire is certainly to be with those He loves, but just what the eternal ages hold only He knows.  Would we even begin to understand if He told us?”

“No, I suppose not.  But anyway, I can’t stand religion – robes, rituals, empty smiles, pious words.  Hypocrisy!  Makes me sick!”

“Jesus was not religious, and He had no time for hypocrisy.  He died to give us real life, real joy and real peace.  But who today is willing to seriously consider what He said and did?  People reject Him without even bothering to find out about Him.”

“I know, we’re all too busy for what I suppose matters most.  But who even believes this stuff now, what with science and everything?”

“There are more people than you think who believe, including scientists.  But what about you?  You have to make your own decision, first to find out about Him, and then to trust in the Lord Jesus.”

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)