The Most Precious Thing in the Universe

As I sit in my living room enjoying a peaceful early evening, I’m so thankful to God. It’s raining, and rain is so precious.

While I was on a hospital ward recently after injuring my throat, I was instructed to consume only two teaspoons of water every hour to minimise the risk of choking while my throat healed. Having my water intake limited in this way did a great deal to make me recognise how valuable water is. For many years I have always been appreciative when it starts to rain, especially after a dry spell. Being able to drink clean water has been a daily blessing throughout my life, which upon reflection is a huge privilege and mercy.

Mercy. That is the most precious thing in the Universe. God has the power to inflict terrible suffering on His creatures, and He has the freedom to do whatever He will. During my spell in intensive care recently, I experienced a taste of suffering which heightened my awareness of this. Every moment in which we do not suffer is a great mercy from our Lord and we must be thankful for every moment of peace and happiness that He grants us.

The Abrahamic Scriptures warn of a Day of Judgement which we will all face. God says in the Qur’an that it is His binding promise that the Day of Judgement will come. In a great many surahs in the Qur’an, God warns us about the fires of hell and offers direction concerning how we should live if we are seeking to avoid hell and enter paradise.

In the New Testament, Jesus gives us an indication of just how serious the suffering of hell will be when he says that if our eye causes us to sin, we should gouge it out and throw it away, for it is better to lose a part of our body in this life than to be thrown into hell in the next. There’s nothing in the Biblical account of Jesus saying this to suggest it shouldn’t be taken literally.

It is right to be afraid of the torment of the fires of hell. God warns us about this so that we will be persuaded to obey His commandments and live in a way that pleases Him. And while on Judgement Day God will have the power and freedom to do whatever He pleases with us, He has sent down guidance to help us and assures us that no one will be wronged.

Obeying God is something I wholeheartedly wish to do, and I try, but there are some important theological matters which mean my spiritual path isn’t straightforward. The alleged deity of Jesus Christ is one such matter where the teachings of the Qur’an and orthodox Christianity seem to disagree. It is my overarching ambition to settle this predicament before I die (preferably as soon as possible) so that I might feel sure that I am living and thinking in a way that pleases God.

Please work with me to settle the predicament of whether or not Jesus is God. Don’t think you can dismiss the Qur’an if you haven’t read it and don’t think you can dismiss the Bible if you haven’t read it. The concept of the Trinity is at the heart of this debate.

There is nothing more important than the pursuit of God’s mercy, so if you have any doubts in your mind about matters of theology then join me in dedicating your life to resolving them. May God guide all who love and fear Him to a straight path. Please, God, be merciful to us all. Amen.