Is There A God?

(Note to reader)
Another of my old writings.

All my life, there has been a debate on the issue of God from every direction imaginable. Is there a God? Science would have us think not. Trying to explain our existence by talking about evolution or the "big bang" theory is sciences' way of making us doubt a supreme being. Scientist want us to embrace the possibility that we crawled up out of the primordial ooze to walk on all fours and eventually stand erect. For some reason a lot of super intelligent people are threatened by the faith concept of a higher power. Faith is scary because it can't be explained away with a mathematical equation or scientific calculation.
For all I know we may very well have slithered from a slime pit somewhere but I also know if we did, it was God who called us out.
All I have to do is look at the world around me and know that only a great and wonderful God could have given us this life. He provided everything we could possibly need to exist and then gave us minds and will to control our own behavior. To see a newborn child is the epitome of a supreme being who loves us and believes in us enough to allow us to perpetuate our existence.
I realize I may have a slightly tilted view on the faith/religion issue. I don't necessarily think they are one and the same thing.
Religion is a structured program by which you practice your faith and embrace others of a like mind.
Faith is the essence of your being that makes you "know" something is true.
In my opinion, religion is like a car. If it is a decent car, if you take care of it, if you tend to the daily maintenance, if you drive it enough to keep it humming along and then fortify it with gas and oil, it is going to take you somewhere. It doesn't matter whether it is a Ford, a Chevy or something else; that car will take you where you want to go. Isn't religion a lot the same? Maintain it and it will take you to your destination and even allow you to take someone else with you.
In religion we are a diverse people; in Faith we are the same.
Recently, I was part of a rather heated debate on the issue of God and the hereafter. My antagonist was absolutely without a doubt convinced there was no God. Therefore, they maintained, there is no reason to exercise any kind of restraint here on earth.
I struggled so to find something that might make this person understand my position on Faith and God and the conviction that we will answer for our actions. I prayed for the words to help me express what I "knew" in my heart to be true and God in his wisdom gave me the answer. I will share it with you as well.
"Suppose you live your entire life on earth trying as hard as you can to do what society and God say you should. Suppose you obey man's law and try to live closely to the teaching of God. And then you die and learn there isn't a God. What have you lost by living your life the way you did. You lost nothing."
"Now suppose you live your life with no regard for the laws of God or man. You live as you please with no concern for the consequences. You lie, cheat, steal, covet your friend's possessions, kill the innocent and wreck havoc on earth as long as you live. And then you die and find yourself at the feet of God. What have you lost? You have lost everything with no hope of going back and changing anything.
Even a hard nosed gambler would be able to look at those odds and tell you what your best bet would be. And I think it is also fairly scientific.
Cost of living a God fearing life if there isn't a God ----Nothing.
Cost of living a reprehensible life if there is a God ----Everything including your immortal soul.
Talk about a classic no-brainer! It doesn't even require religion to teach it or Faith to belive it, it simply is.
Yes, Virginia, there is a God. You will find Him in the beauty of a new day, in the rebirth of Spring, in the certainty of the tides and the phases of the moon, in the eyes of a small child and in the inherent goodness of our fellow man. He lives and lives and lives.