This is definitely the 'road most travelled' so you have lots of company. However, think about it logically for a moment... What could a God that is capable of creating something as astounding as our universe possibly want from us? For us to have blind obedience and perform repetitive rituals for Him? Why not just create robots and pre-program them for the job?
Consider the one thing that God cannot create... our love and trust. Why? God (of His free will), gave us our free will. In turning the reins over to us, He set us free... to accept or reject Him.
This is where I believe Jesus is perhaps the most logical option. God knew that rules were necessary for us to survive and thrive. He also knew that, endowed with this free will, we weren't capable of following those rules in any meaningful way.
Was He just setting us up to get some sadistic pleasure from watching us fall? I don't think so, because God came down to earth and offered us salvation, fully paid for, as a gift that we only need to believe to receive.
What would be the point of all this, you ask? It comes down to trust... This is the ultimate trust exercise. Do we believe that the God of the universe cared enough to send His Son to die for us? Are we willing to trust Him enough to offer our lives back to Him? Will we accept this wholly sufficient gift for our salvation?
So, what do you actually know about the historical person of Jesus, the man who claimed to be God? Does everything you know about Jesus come from a religious zealot acquaintance or a televangelist huckster?
He wasn't god, he was just a moral teacheri don't need him, because i am being reincarnatedjesus is just one way, there is no absolute truthwhy is jesus different?
Okay. Now please understand this, your particular paradigm may be right. I cannot say with one hundred percent certainty that it isn't. None of us will know until we get to the end of this life. What I'm asking here is that you look past your subjective experience and apply logic.
As you know, this choice involves consequences. If there is an eternity, that's how long we have to live with our decision. It would seem obvious to have this choice be an informed and thoughtful one.
We cannot just accept the stories of our parents. They mean well and they obviously want the best for us, but that does not make them infallible. As a logical, rational thinking individual, you need your worldview to be accurate, not merely traditional. You need to be able to believe in it with your heart AND your mind. Legends and stories are a wonderful part of our heritage, but the paradigm that you live by today should line up with what we know... today. You in no way dishonour your ancestors by moving forward.
Contrary to what I had been taught, I ended up with a relationship with God through Jesus as my working paradigm. This was diametrically opposed to the undirected, spontaneously-created worldview I started from. Needless to say, it took me far out of my comfort zone. However, as I continued to investigate, I found that this paradigm checked more logical boxes and answered more questions than any other. It became, in essence, the shortest leap of faith.
Why Jesus, when there are so many other religious figures in the world? Jesus was different than the rest. He was only in the public eye for a few short years. He had no political power. He was seemingly vanquished by His enemies, and yet no one else in history has made such an impact on the world. He was amazing... but was He God?