Good Morning All,
Acts 16:31; “And they said, “Believe in the
Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Do you believe? This can be a very common but also tricky
question. Do you believe and what
exactly does that mean to you? “I
believe I will have another hot dog.”
Well that doesn’t really hit the meaning but we say it (maybe not the
hot dog part but you get the idea). Do
you believe? That is always the question
and the answer that the Bible gives. Do
you believe or do you have faith is always the process through which Jesus
acts. He will ask the person “do you believe”
and then when he heals them he tells them “your faith has made you well.” So how do we understand this question? Do you believe?
In our world today, many people see the act
of believing as simply a mental exercise.
It is an acknowledgement that the understanding they have and some of
the facts (or opinions) for their belief.
So, you may have a favorite sports team and you “believe” they will win
the championship. Yet even this does not
approach what the Bible means when it talks about believing. Do you believe?
Most of us regularly speak one of the creeds
during our worship service. “I believe”
we state with all seriousness but what do we mean? I think for many people the idea of believing
is more like saying, “this is what I know about this person called God.” I know he is the creator who has a son named
Jesus who is the redeemer and then the Holy Spirit is winging around to work
with me. This is the sum of what I know
about God. Yet this falls short because
by this standard, you can believe in many different gods. You could believe in the Roman or Greek gods
because you have knowledge of them. “Do
you believe”; goes much deeper.
To
believe means we are stating, “This is the standard by which I live.” When we say “I believe” we are saying that
this truth that I have confessed as being the truth is the one and only
standard that will mold, shape, guide and measure my life. “I believe” is a transformative
statement. By stating we believe in
Jesus, we are confessing Him as our Lord and Savior and thus we will live our life
in accordance to his will. We do not
force him to change but rather we change.
We leave our sinful selfishness and strive for his standard of
sacrificial love. “I believe” means we
are different from the world that does not believe. “I believe” means that we are submitting our
will and our life to service to Jesus.
To believe has to be more than a mental exercise; to believe means to
live according to your confession.
This is why the Bible often speaks of a person’s
actions when they are being judged. The
way you live is the way you believe. If
you truly believe in Jesus you will act that way; if you do not believe then
that will show as well. Do you
believe? What you live is your true
confession. Let it be for Jesus!
Gracious Father, give us faith! Lead us to believe that we may be your
servants and thus proclaim your love for your creation through our lives. Defend us when we are attacked and heal us
when we are broken. Deliver us from
evil. In the precious name of Jesus we
pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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