Really? Why? You don't require it for countless other areas of your life.

Have you ever loved someone? Did you have solid proof at the outset of the relationship that it was going to work out, and that no one would get hurt? No. But you went ahead with it anyhow, right? Why? Because you had faith.

The first time you rode in an airplane, did you have solid proof you would live to tell about it? No, but you took the flight anyhow. Why? Because you had faith that the plane and its crew would get you back on the ground safely.

"Yes, but I already knew thousands of planes take off and land without incident every day of the year." But you never know for sure that any particular aircraft won't become a statistic. So when you decide to fly, in the absence of solid proof that it won't be the last thing you do, faith allows you to get on the aircraft.

You're much more likely to be killed in a car than in a plane, yet without solid proof that the next time you ride in a car won't be the last time, in faith you do it again and again.

Every year people die from food poisoning, but you still eat every day. "I don't have a choice. If I don't eat, I'll die for sure."

That's true. You choose to have faith in the safety of the food both because you have to eat and because you know that it's almost certainly not contaminated. Good choice. The odds are in your favor. But what about your eternal destiny? Are you making wise choices in that area? You've heard that if you don't choose to become a Christian, you'll have chosen instead to spend eternity in a place that was never meant for you.

"Nonsense. That's just what the Bible says. I don't believe the Bible. I have no solid proof that it's true."

Fine. Your choice. You're playing the odds and hoping you're on the right side. You got on that plane, drove that car, and ate that meal only because you knew millions of other people had done so without meeting an untimely end, so it seemed like a safe bet. The numbers were in your favor. So considering that millions of believers in Christ have testified to the deep satisfaction, peace, and thrill that they've found in serving Him, how come you don't believe this path is a safe bet worth placing your faith in?

"That’s just an argument from numbers. Sure, I believe they think they’re happy, but they’re all deceived into thinking they’ll go to Heaven, yet they have no proof of that."

Do you have proof that they won’t? Are you not basing your refusal to prepare for your demise on an unfounded assumption that there is no life after death? And why are these otherwise-intelligent individuals so certain that we all do outlive the grave, and that they will go to Heaven? Why is it that at the very end of their lives, when people have a strong tendency to get extremely honest, rather than losing grip on a faith that they knew in their hearts was ill-founded, as you might expect, instead they become ecstatic with the certainty that they are about to enter into the presence of God? Why is it that they are so convinced that what they’ve observed in their lives has conclusively proved that God is indeed real?

"Because… I don’t know! But it’s not enough for me. I have to have something more concrete. Christianity goes against everything I hold to be true. If the natural scientific method cannot prove something is real, then I will not accept it."

Look, we understand that from where you stand, it isn't easy. That's because you are looking at the spiritual world from the physical world.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

You are trying to apply rules from one world to an entirely different one that transcends the world you currently travel in even as the sun's brightness transcends that of the moon. Yes, it will demand faith to enter this world, just as it requires faith for you to engage in other activities in life. All your questions will not be answered before you enter the door, but you will be utterly amazed at how satisfactorily they are answered once you have stepped inside.

"Yeah, right... my head will be so full of Christian propaganda that I’ll believe anything they tell me!"

To the contrary, you will have begun to personally develop and utilize mankind’s innate spiritual awareness in concert with the Spirit of God to discern the reality of a world you previously were almost wholly unconscious of. This will enable you to then use criteria appropriate to the spiritual realm to establish that it is indeed an objective reality which rational, logical minds need have no embarrassment claiming exists.

Keep in mind that if this were just a creation of mankind, discerning minds would quickly figure that out, and abandon it. Yet look at the record of history. Pick up a copy of Fox's Book of Martyrs and read about what countless people have endured in the way of torture, imprisonment, and violent, painful deaths because they would not let go of their faith in God. How can you explain that? Were they all idiots? No. Were they insane? Read their stories. Listen to their last words as the flames rose around them. Do these sound like the words of the deranged? Of the deluded? No way.

Look, just try it out for yourself. Recognize that you wouldn't likely be reading this page if you were absolutely certain that there was nothing to it. Once you truly step inside, you will know deep within that you have found the proof you once desired. Then you can reach out to those who are yet wandering in the darkness you once were.

If you don't, you'll still eventually get solid proof that it's real. Only problem is, it'll be too late.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB