Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And then follows a long list of names of people who died, some heroically, assured in their hearts that they were going to Heaven and be with God. They just knew! They trusted God’s Word and invitation. The key to Eternal Life is just placing your life in God’s hand. Even though you don’t see anything! Even without God giving you a spiritual display of power. The story from Luke 16: 19-31 is very appropriate here. Lazarus died and went to Heaven because of his faith. A rich man died and went to Hell. Of course, he wanted out. He was told that was an impossible request. So he asks for a messenger from Hell to be sent to warn his brothers to avoid Hell. He is told they already have the Word of the Lord. The man protests that they would be more likely to “repent” if someone came directly from Hell. The conclusion is that if the brothers won’t respond to the Word of the Lord, nothing can convince them. Paul concurs in Romans 10:17 “faith come from hearing”. No showtime required: hear the Message and take it in. Some churches and Christian organizations are regularly producing “spectaculars” to convince doubters that they should believe. Famous people are invited to give testimonies that Jesus is “worth following”, even well-known athletes. I’m reminded of the crowd around the Cross where Jesus was hanging shouting out “if You will come down, we will believe.” (Mark 15:32) Sorry, no more spectacular events like walking on the water or raising dead people. It’s just faith! Trust and OK! Blaise Pascal, the Christian philosopher (and former atheist) said ‘faith has it’s reasons that reason knows not of”. If it took a “spectacular” to convert you, it would demand a daily spectacular to keep you convinced.
“Help me Lord, not to stumble over doubt or any other hard-hearted
thing on the way to trusting You with my life. Amen”
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