The statement straight from the Savior’s lips is quoted so often and so glibly that it has lost its eternal, earth-shattering significance. We utter it as if it were on a par with expressing our faith in people, places or things. It isn’t. There is no one and nothing else on this planet that carries the eternal weight of a real genuine faith in God. But we dismiss it into just another platitude. It isn’t. Jesus spoke those four words. They have timeless significance. They are binding now and always. They are key to living and to dying. Neither can be done successfully without faith in God. Faith placed in lesser, carnal things or people, is worthless, both in life and death. No life can ever be lived successfully on this earth without faith in God. It is the oil in the lamps, and without it there is no Light. When people doubted, Jesus simply said, “Have faith in God”, and miracles were worked. How often did the disciples hear Jesus say, “O ye of little faith”? Living in this world without faith in God is a lost cause, to say nothing of the next one. There are no replacements; nothing else will do. It is the be-all, the end-all and the cure-all for life on this planet. Faith in God is the only thing on earth that makes life worth living. A person may gain great fame and the adulation of millions, money beyond counting, and every other favorable circumstance, but all of it is short-lived compared to eternity. Life is short, and death is certain. Faith in God is the solid Rock of certainty, and there is no other.
Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Why wouldn’t he? The Creator, the Giver of life, can take it away at will. But we believe in a benevolent Creator who rules the universe and offers hope and help and love and solace to His creation because He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross to pay our sin debt. In the meantime He has the Potter’s right to mold the clay according to His will.
“So Jesus said to them, ‘Have faith in God.’…Mark 11:22 (Not a suggestion, but a command).
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor. 5:7
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1
“For without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to Him must believe that He is, and is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6
“Looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:2
“For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith”, as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ Romans 1:17
“That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, that may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love. Though you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith: even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1: 7-9
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And that is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4
May God bless the reading of His Word and its application in our daily lives.
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