Faith

“So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (Romans 10:17 NLT)

How would you describe your faith? How is your life different since you’ve placed your trust in Jesus? What does having faith in Christ mean to you in practical terms? Is it a creed or conviction upon which your life is built? A set of spiritual guidelines to be followed? A system of belief? An interesting philosophy?

Over the years I’ve come to appreciate Dr. David Jeremiah for many reasons, but in a recent Turning Point devotion he inspired me when he wrote: “Many people have a mistaken view of faith, thinking that faith is believing in something or someone despite the evidence and we have to take a ‘leap of faith.’ That is nonsense. It doesn’t work in any area of life. You don’t step onto a rickety swinging bridge with rotten ropes and missing planks, just assuming the bridge will support you. To place your faith in the bridge, it would need to be anchored on both sides, sturdy, reliable, and trustworthy. Faith is believing because of the evidence. It’s not a leap into uncertainty but a step that is reasonable, logical, and sensible.”

Is that how you would describe your faith? Are you following Jesus because of your firm conviction in the trustworthiness of who He is? What He taught? The truth of God’s Word as it describes who Jesus is and why He died? Or do you still struggle with the whole concept of faith in God?

Faith is a many dimensional process. The tiny faith I possessed as I began my journey with Jesus more than 60 years ago has grown exponentially as I’ve found insurmountable evidence that He is exactly who He claimed to be, does exactly what He promised to do, and my expectation that I will one day soon meet Him face to face continues to grow.

To me faith isn’t an idea or conviction, it’s a daily, moment by moment basis of my life and how I order my daily living. Knowing the Lord is with me every second and realizing He’s invested in helping me in every detail of my existence steadies and undergirds me as surely as the strength of a well-constructed bridge. I don’t have to worry or fret about anything; I simply ask for His help and thank Him in the process for His strength and guidance.

Forgiveness of sin and eternal life are certainly critical pieces of why faith in Christ is so vital, but, at least in my humble opinion, not the greatest “draw” to following Christ. Those issues place the emphasis on us as individual believers, highlighting what seem to be the greatest “attractions” to the Faith. But to me the greatest draw to Christianity is Christ.

Knowing Him, loving Him, walking moment by moment with Him are all the reasons I need to have strong faith. Perhaps that’s the reason many struggle with their faith, they never develop intimacy with Jesus. His closeness sustains, strengthens, informs, protects, undergirds, teaches, and enables me to walk in faith without wavering. On some levels it’s like a child holding the strong hand of their father.

Hudson Taylor builds on that idea when he writes: “You do not need a great faith, but faith in a great God.” Faith grows with experience in trusting the God of the Bible who loves us without limit, never fails, never lies, and never leaves or forsakes us. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊