Close Your Eyes to Blind Faith

Bible Reading: John 8:31-32

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.   John 8:32

You’re trying to tell a friend about Jesus when she starts to sound like a college professor. “So,” she says with a creepy voice and one eyebrow raised, “can you prove with 100 percent certainty that Jesus rose from the dead?”

You’re not sure where your friend suddenly got the jumbo-sized brain and smart-sounding question. Your answer comes out in a mousy squeak. “Umm, no.”

Some people call our Christian belief in Jesus’ resurrection a “blind faith.” That’s a belief accepted without any proof. Or they slam our faith with nasty labels like “ignorant,” “irrational,” or “unreasonable.” Those are all big words that more or less mean the same thing as “dumb.” If someone puts you down this way, you’re probably left feeling red-faced. Odd. Stupid. Defeated.

Some people figure that if a truth can’t be proven with 100 percent certainty, it’s useless or untrue. If Jesus’ resurrection or his claim to be the Son of God can’t be proven with 100 percent certainty, they say, then the Christian faith isn’t worth bedeviling.

That’s a myth. Few things can be proven with 100 percent certainty.

In a court of law, for example, a jury can never be 100 percent sure that someone committed a crime. But the jury weighs the evidence to declare that someone is guilty—or not—beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the same way, your belief that Jesus is God can’t be proven with 100 percent sureness. But that doesn’t mean it’s stupid to believe the Christian faith. The apostle John wrote, “Jesus’ disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book” (John 20:30). Jesus, in other words, did many other things that demonstrated that he was the Son of God. The evidence the Bible provides doesn’t include everything Jesus said or did, but what it does tell us is enough to form a well-grounded belief. John wrote in the next verse, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life” (verse 31).

Your belief in Jesus is plenty smart. Blaise Pascal—a famous French mathematician, philosopher, and scientist—said that there is enough evidence for the Christian faith to convince anyone not already set against it. But there isn’t enough evidence to bring anyone into God’s kingdom who doesn’t want to come.

TALK: Answer in your own words: Why is it not foolish to believe in Jesus?

PRAY: Jesus, give us opportunities to share with our friends the truth about who you are and what you’ve done for us.

ACT: Is there a question about your faith that puzzles you? Ask a more mature Christian for help digging for the answer.

 

 

Are You Sure You’re Sure?

Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 1:9-14

I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.   2 Timothy 1:12

Night after night little Ricky was scared to crawl into bed. He struggled to go to sleep as spooky thoughts kept him wide-awake. He saw creepy shapes float across the ceiling. He feared that monsters hid in the dark shadows of his closet. He thought he could hear big-fanged creatures munch on the dust bunnies under his bed.

Believe it or not, some of us are haunted by some even scarier spiritual questions. We might wonder, Am I really saved? Has anything in my life really changed? If I’m a Christian, then why don’t I feel any different? We might think, Maybe I’m not really a Christian. Maybe I didn’t do it right.

Talk about it: Do you ever worry that you really aren’t a Christian?

For Satan, the enemy of your soul, every day is Halloween. Satan is always on the job, trying to scare the truth out of you and make you doubt your salvation—the fact that you really belong to God.

Doubts are common. But a Christian doesn’t have to feel saved in order to be saved, any more than a millionaire has to feel rich in order to be rich.

In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul said some awesome things in some interesting ways. He said that “I know the one in whom I trust,” not just “what I trust.” He also said, “I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him.” Paul wasn’t just putting his faith in facts, but in a dependable friend. He was trusting the God who had proven himself worth trusting.

When you wonder whether you really are a Christian, read Isaiah 12:2 aloud several times: “God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” Then pray this Scripture-based prayer aloud:

Father, you are the one who saves me. Help me to trust and not be afraid. You give me strength and make me sing. Help me draw near to you with a sincere heart and a sure faith. Grab hold of my heart and give me sure knowledge that the gospel is true. Thank you for your promise that I belong to you—today and forever. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. (See Isaiah 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 10:22.)

TALK: Do you ever wonder if you are really saved? Spend some time looking up the additional Bible passages listed above.

PRAY: God, thank you that we can trust our life to you—now and forever!

ACT: Write out the prayer above. Put it where you can see it often until God’s assurance takes hold in your heart.

Shine

Bible Reading:   Philippians 2:12-15

You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them.   Philippians 2:15

A WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN in India was preparing to retire. He called his two sons into his office and told them of his plans.

“Now, you are both good sons and capable young men,” he said. “I can’t decide who I should put in charge of my business and all my property. So, I have chosen a test for you.” He gave a coin to each son and said, “Take this coin and buy something that will fill this house.”

Now, the coin he had given each of his sons was of little value and his house was large with many rooms. Each son knew the task would be difficult.

The older son wasted no time. He hurried to the marketplace and began pricing all sorts of bulky materials. He soon decided that the cheapest and bulkiest thing he could buy was straw. So he bought as much straw as his coin would buy and carried great bundles of it into the house. But the straw barely covered half the floors in the house.

The younger son stopped to think about his father’s test. He knew that only a most unusual purchase would pass his father’s test.

When the younger son returned, he carried only a small package. His brother laughed. “You expect to fill this house with that?” he said, pointing to the package.

The younger son said nothing. He opened his little package and took out an assortment of candles. He placed one candle in each room. When he had lighted them all, the entire house was filled . . . with light!

Every day you face the same choice those brothers faced. Every morning a new day stands open before you. You can fill it with wrong choices, selfish choices, choices that bring only darkness and disappointment. Or you can fill your day with right choices with good and decent actions that will shine like a light to everyone around you.

Make it your goal today—and every day—to fill your day with right choices, and let your life shine like a light in a dark world.

REFLECT: What did you fill your day with yesterday—light or darkness? Right choices or wrong choices? What do you think will happen as people see you making right choices? How can you “shine” like a light to everyone around you today?

ACT: Ask your parents for permission to light a candle while you eat breakfast tomorrow morning to remind you to fill your day with right choices that will shine like a light to everyone around you.

PRAY: “Father, please help me to live a clean and innocent life in this dark world. Help me to make right choices that will shine like a light to everyone around me.”

 

 

Now or Later?

Bible Reading: Hebrews 10:32-36

Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now.   Hebrews 10:35-36

YOU CAN GET a lot of things instantly these days: instant coffee, instant oatmeal, even “instant winner” lottery tickets. But there are still things that take time. You can’t get a high school diploma overnight. You can’t grow a sunflower in thirty minutes or less. You can’t lose weight instantly (no matter what the infomercials say!). You can’t even make instant Jell-O instantly; you have to put it in the refrigerator and let it gel.

The problem is, all those things we can get instantly make it harder for us to wait for other things. We’re so used to “fast food” that we can’t stand to wait more than a few minutes for dinner in a restaurant (and if we do, we complain about the service!). We’re so used to “quick fixes” that we moan and groan when we unwrap a Christmas present that says, “Some assembly required.” We’re so used to getting things we want now, we have trouble saving or planning or waiting for the things we want.

And the devil, our enemy, knows how to use our desire for “instant winners” and fast rewards to get us to make wrong choices. He knows that most of us are used to getting what we want when we want it. So he tempts us to do wrong by promising that the wrong choice will bring instant gratification.

“I know you don’t have enough money to see a movie,” he’ll say, “but all your friends are seeing that new movie today. Just take the money from your mom’s purse; she’ll never miss it.”

Or, “Go ahead, make fun of your friend; everybody at your lunch table will laugh and think you’re cool now. You can always apologize later.”

One of the keys to making right choices is learning to say no to the sometimes instant rewards of wrong choices in favor of the greater and more enduring rewards of right choices.

In other words, many temptations to do wrong are like a choice between eating a slice of devil’s food cake now and owning your own bakery later. If you can say no now, you can enjoy much greater rewards later. It’s often as simple as nowor later.

REFLECT: Think over recent choices you’ve made. Did a desire for “instant” gratification cause you to make the wrong choice in any of those instances? If so, how can you make the right choice next time?

ACT: Buy a pack of the candy called Now & Later. As you eat the candy, remember to “continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised” (Hebrews 10:36).

PRAY:”Lord, help me to say no to the devil’s tricks and temptations. Let me see that there are greater and more enduring rewards of doing what is right.”