Tuesday, January 31, 2006

2 Corinthians 5:7

"For we walk by faith, not by sight..." I Cor. 5:7.

Do you sometimes think to yourself that all you need is more faith? I bet most people, if they are honest will think this at some time or another. But, faith is not a warm, positive feeling you need to 'get'. It is by far something more. It is giving mental assent to something. Faith is making a decision to trust, lean, or depend upon someone or something. That means faith never exists alone...it always has an object.

We have faith in a chair to hold us up when we go to sit in it. We have faith in a friend who says she will meet us at a certain time and place. We have faith in our spouse that he/she will stay committed to their wedding vows. We have faith in God. Our perception of the object of our faith will determine our actions. Personally, I think it's kind of difficult (and maybe absurd) to place one's faith in someone or something in which you know very little.

When you go to sit in the chair you 'know' it will hold you. You 'know' the character of your husband or friend, thereby you trust them (or not). When it comes to Biblical faith it involves trusting God alone. Here is the kicker....faith involves 'knowing'. I dare say there are many who do not know much about the character of God and how it is relevant to living our daily lives. To lean on God alone, consistently, we must "know" Him. We must know what He is like to "know" Him. As we discover for ourselves the amazing truth of what God is like it encourages us to place our faith in Him. If one "knows" their God then when desperate times come along one's stability is fixed and unmovable. Anyone who desires to know God better through His Word will be transformed.

How does one go about finding out what God is like? We look at Jesus Christ, for "He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of His nature. He is the image of the invisible God...In Christ there is all of God in a human body...He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15; 2:9, Living Bible, John 14:9). You see, it is through the intimacy of a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ that all which God is becomes alive in our daily experience.

"To come alive spiritually we must meet God.
To live abundantly we must know God."

3 comments:

HeyJules said...

I love this post!

"To come alive spiritually we must meet God. To live abundantly we must know God."

Isn't that just the truth, the whole truth, and nothing BUT the truth? So many people meet Him and then walk away, convinced they're ready for the big showdown. (Yeah, I was including my old self in that group!) But you really do have to take the time to discover the relationship that is waiting for you because it changes EVERYTHING. Absolutely EVERYTHING.

Melissa said...

How ironic that I was going to comment on the same quote that struck me...the same one HeyJules pointed out..."To come alive spiritually we must meet God. To live abundantly we must know God."

I'm going to quote that in my upcoming post and talk about it more in detail...really touched my soul...you always do that!

Bob and Claire said...

Mmmm, very timely post, Aunt Claire! : ) Thanks for the encouragement today!