Believe!

01/01/2006

“For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him
should have eternal life—that I should raise them at the last day.”
John 6:40 (NLT)

Those around Jesus asked Him, “What does God want us to do?”
Don’t we all ask that question at times in our life?
We want to do God’s will, but most times we don’t even know what His will is…the answer to the question is there in the next paragraph, “Jesus told them, ‘This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent.’” (John 6:28-29 NLT)

Can it really be so simple? Doesn’t it have to be more complicated than that? I mean, look at this world we live in? It is very complicated. Relationships are complicated, rearing a child is complicated, deciding on a career, a major, a spouse, where we want to live and what we want to do are all complicated things to work through…decisions, decisions, decisions, with rarely a simple answer to any of it! Except, to BELIEVE!

The crowds around Jesus were looking to Him, wanting answers, wondering what comes next, and Jesus said, all my Father wants you to do is to believe that I am the One He has sent to the world to save you! He said, “Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Son of Man, can give you. For God the Father has sent me for that very purpose.” (John 6:27 NLT) When we follow God’s advice; He saves us, not only eternally in Heaven, but each day here on earth.

In the Bible it talks about the “day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them…” Then “the disciples told them not to bother him,” but “Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’” (Luke 18:16 NLT)

“Such as these…” Jesus was speaking to all of us in that simple phrase. He was speaking to His very disciples too. He knew the ways of man and He knew how hard it is for us to believe, and so He went on to tell them, “I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:17 NLT)

Without the faith of a child, we will not hear the bells of heaven ringing. They will slowly fade into the background of our childhood, possibly never to be heard again. They will be drowned out by all the things we “must do” as we hurry on our way and by all the complicated things we must work through. Some of God’s best miracles are when the loneliness starts to dissolve; when fear is swept away and most importantly, when the Hope of an innocent child emerges again no matter what our age!

When we BELIEVE, that is our Father’s gift to us! It’s so much more exciting than sitting on Santa’s lap with our wish list; it’s resting in the mighty arms of God where we can hear the bells of heaven ringing! God has “hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” (Matt. 11:25 NLT)