“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT)
Faith is a subject that can drive wedges between people or draw them together in unimaginable ways. Atheists decry faith as for the weak or unintelligent, as though the only way to really know what’s true is to use your mind. Let’s test that theory.
Use nearly any measure – building a relationship, building a house, buying a car, flying in an airplane – the examples are literally endless of ways that every person, regardless of whether they are a person of “faith,” exercises faith in nearly every dimension of their lives. It’s not an issue of faith or no faith, it’s always and only what is the basis or foundation of the faith you have?
Most of us want what’s best for ourselves, as we understand it. And very often we establish our belief system based on our desired lifestyle, not on our convictions, religious or otherwise. If an extravagant lifestyle is my goal, then I need to follow the money. And, if that means I need to cut some corners ethically, morally, or legally, so be it.
Am I suggesting that every person who makes a lot of money fits that description, or that anyone who is not a believer in Jesus will follow that path? Of course not. There are very moral, ethical, and law-abiding people who follow no religious path. So, what am I saying? I’m saying everyone has and follows some system of belief – we are all people of faith. How so?
“Acknowledge His Ways” “Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com”
We are creatures of habit who most often follow the path of least resistance unless or until something significant happens to us. Some event, some loss, some person, some opportunity, some _______, that gives us insight we didn’t have that leads us in a way we hadn’t thought we’d ever go, that shapes us into the person we now are.
For purposes of this post, I’m going to assume that our chosen paths of life will either lead us to an understanding of who Jesus is or away from that understanding. We’ll either embrace faith in the risen Lord or we’ll reject His offer of salvation from sin and a home in heaven when we leave this earth.
And yes, I realize it’s not that cut and dried. Many life-changing decisions are made without any knowledge of who Jesus is, not because they reject His claims, but because no one has ever helped them understand what His claims are. And many, if not most “spiritual” or “religious” decisions are not made based on research and study, but on our “heart” or “gut,” based largely on our indoctrination by those in our spheres of influence growing up.
If our parents or those who had authority over us when we were young loved and served Jesus, were Hindu, Buddhist, Mormon, Jewish or whatever, our initial decisions about “faith” will likely be guided by those whose opinions were most predominant when we were young. And, yes, of course, they could have been positive or negative, leading us toward or away from their convictions, but they nonetheless influenced us.
Jesus is the only sane, intelligent, historically verifiable person who claimed to be God, and the probability of any one person in history fulfilling the 60+ Messianic prophecies that we’re declared hundreds of years before He was born, are astronomical.
Please don’t ignore the evidence that abounds that He is exactly who He claimed to be – God in human flesh, who purposely and willingly sacrificed His life to give us an opportunity to know, love, serve, and spend all eternity with Him. Eternal life taught in the Bible doesn’t begin when we die, it begins the moment we yield our life and allegiance to Jesus by faith.
He’s the only One who opened a window of opportunity to experience life as it was intended to be lived. That’s why it’s so critical that we put our unwavering faith in Him and Him alone.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 