Wednesday; August 2

          The other day I was reading an article from a secular media outlet about how there had been a downturn in the number of people who believed in creationism.  I don’t recall the numbers, but the essence of the article was two-fold:  fewer people (even Christians) believe in a Bible-only version of creation and, if the Christianity is going to be successful it needs to acknowledge the value of science in explaining things like creation.  My goal is not to challenge that author’s number or even debate his premise, rather I merely want to ask the question – What happened to faith?  Often, when we use the word “faith” we are referring to a system of doctrines that outline our religion, but there is another side to faith.  Faith is believing in what we cannot see and what we cannot explain using human reason.  Faith, in Christianity, is accepting God at His word whether it can verified by science and history or not.  The bottom line when it comes to worshiping an invisible and All-knowing God is that faith is vital.  The New Testament instructs us, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” (II Corinthians 5:7)
This challenge is nothing new, even the earliest disciples tried to balance proof with faith.  About a week after Jesus was raised from the dead Thomas felt that he needed “facts” before he would accept the resurrection story.  Jesus agreed to provide proof, but also admonished, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed?  Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (John 20:29)
What do we need to believe?  There may be times when we can rely upon independent evidence, but let’s never lose sight of a need to accept God at His word.
Think About It!

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