Pascal’s Wager

“God is, or is not.  There is an infinite chaos separating us.  At the end of this infinite distance a game is being played and the coin will come down head or tails.  How will you wager?”  -Mathematician Blaise Pascal

We know life is a risky business.  It is fragile and wrought with danger.  In the midst of life’s crucible, however, many it seems have no problem gambling at casinos that dot the American landscape or play the lotto that supposedly benefits our failed public educational system in our Biblically illiterate society.  Yet, each day that passes billions of people in this world gamble with their eternal destiny.

It is estimated that 150,000 people shuffle off this mortal coil each and every day.  Most wager that there is no afterlife, no eternal soul, and man simply becomes food for the worms.  Most live their lives void of the fear of God and act as though He does not exist.  He is not in most people’s thoughts.  Many go about their fleeting lives as if there will be no day of reckoning when their thoughts, deeds, and actions will come into account before a Holy God.

Pascal believed it was neither reasonable nor rational to make a wager that discounted the God of the Bible in this life.  The risk of being wrong was too great.  According to Christian author Dinesh D’souza “If we have faith in God and it turns out that God does not exist, we face a downside risk: metaphysical error.  But if we reject God during our lives, and it turns out God does exist, there is much more serious risk: eternal separation from God.”

In other words, it is much less risky to have faith in God than to remain a skeptic that proudly mocks saving faith.  Pascal concludes, “Let us weigh up the gain and loss involved in calling heads that God exists.  If you win, you win everything, if you lose, you lose nothing.  Do not hesitate, then: wager that He does exist.”

Remember, death stands at the door and the outcome of this wager will be imposed one way or another.  If you do not choose God now, your refusal to choose will be registered for eternity as a choice against God.  Therefore, choose wisely my friend.  Your destiny upon earth and your standing in eternity hangs in the balance.