Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Do you believe in what you believe in?

I believe many things. Belief is what provokes all that I do. I think it's fait to say that someone who doesn't believe in anything will find it hard to do anything. For example, I believe that when I type on this keyboard, the letters I am typing will appear on the screen. I believe that when I turn on a tap, water will come out of it. That is why I bother typing on keyboards, and turning taps!

(Briefly, though, I must remember that not everyone has a tap to turn, and there are those who turn taps and the water is not safe to drink... What are we doing about that?)

I drink water because I believe that it is safe to drink it. I study because I believe my brain processes it, and I will see success in my degree as I do... These are examples of what I believe. But what do I believe in? In whom do I believe?

I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and because I believe in Him, and I believe in Him as God, I believe what He says about Himself.

Having been touched my His grace, His saving power, His mercy, His love, it is not difficult to believe what He says about Himself. I accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour of my life. But the most important thing about me is Jesus, who I believe. So actually, far more important than believing that someone has built pipes in order that I will see water come out of a tap, I believe that God is a powerful God, I believe that He is merciful, I believe all that He says about Himself in His word, which, incidentally, I also believe to be true!

I have been challenged recently as to how much time I invest in believing what I believe about God. Belief stirs faith. Faith stirs action. I know I have faith - the Word of God tells me so - and I've realised that as I spent time believing what God says about Himself, my faith is stirred, and God gives me more faith. Since the things I believe about taps, keyboards and books manifest themselves in my life (I am not thirsty, I write emails and blogposts, I remember what I study), how much more should what I believe in manifest itself in my life?

Initially my question may sound odd - do you believe in what you believe in? But I believe it is crucial. Whom we believe in is what defines us, and I believe that if we spend time believing in God whom we have believed, and still do believe, we will see the fruit of that belief increasingly manifest in our lives.