Monday; October 4

There are times in religion when we use words and just expect people to automatically know what we mean. One of those words in Christianity is “faith”. For the most part, when we use the term faith, we harken back to the New Testament definition, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). While I am not about to argue a spiritual definition with by an inspired writer, the other day, I got thinking about faith and came up with an alternative thought. Faith is believing in what you want to believe in. While the world might traditionally look at “faith” in a religious context, we all have faith. As Christians, we have faith in God and what we believe to be His inspired Word; but non-believers have faith as well. Often their faith is invested in what is called modern history or even advanced science. Many people will tell you that their “faith” is based upon fact, but a quick review of the claims made by historians and scientists show they change periodically. No, the facts don’t change but mankind’s understanding or application of them does. So, this brings us back to the original discussion – faith is believing in what we want to believe in.
There will be a day when the truth will eventually be known and we will all have to accept the consequences of faith. As believers in God, we understand that this will occur at the final judgement of mankind. At this point, not only will our understanding be crystal clear, but the results of our past “enlightenment” will be judged. Where are we willing to invest our faith – in the One we believe will eternally judge us or in our acceptance of the best understanding of science and history available at the time?

Think About It!

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