Article January 8, 2007 Issue

GOD'S GOVERNMENT VISIBLE AND PROVABLE

BY LYLE YOUNG

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS about your world? Whom or what do you see, consciously or unconsciously, as governing you?

On some level, we all accept that something governs, even if that "something" may be random forces in a material universe. But I've found that knowing I'm governed by omnipresent good, God, makes a big difference in the quality of my life. And knowing that God, who is Spirit, governs me, requires also knowing that I, too, am spiritual.

The three Synoptic Gospels in the Bible—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—give a definite view of divine government. While the Bible contains four Gospels, all giving different accounts of the life of Jesus, scholars call Matthew, Mark, and Luke the Synoptics because they either use the same source material or borrow heavily from one another (syn is the Greek word meaning "together," and opsis is the Greek word for "a seeing"). The Gospels aren't metaphysical treatises or dissertations on reality or government. But they do show, through the teachings and actions of Jesus, his understanding of God's supreme control over all.