STRENGTH FOR THE WEEK: Meeting Jesus

All Faith Is Not Created Equal

“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in all of Israel with such great faith.’” ~ Matthew 8:10

A man who looks at a chair that someone else is sitting on and believes that it would be strong enough to hold him up if he himself were sitting in it has a faith in that chair. It is a faith that believes that the existence and strength of the chair is real, not imagined or fabricated. He sees something about the chair that is true and he believes it. His belief corresponds or agrees with reality.

Jesus is like that chair. He is real and strong. He is able to save you from the darkness that enslaves you, the darkness of sin. He is able to assure you amid the hisses of the darkness that haunts you, the darkness of guilt. He is able to strengthen you in the face of the darkness that oppresses you, the darkness of evil. He is able to comfort you in the midst of the darkness that engulfs you, the darkness of pain. He is able to satisfy you despite the darkness that assaults you, the darkness of loneliness. He is able cherish you when you come up against the darkness that diminishes you, the darkness of failure. He is able to still you before the darkness that terrifies you, the darkness of death. He is able to rescue you from the darkness you deserve, the darkness of Hell.

If you believe that these things are true, you have faith, but it is only an agreeing faith, not a saving faith, not a healing faith, not a rescuing faith, not a transformative faith, not a living faith. It is the faith of a person who believes that a chair is strong enough to sit on, but who remains standing while he believes this. True faith that saves is not merely a faith that agrees that Jesus is the true God, nor faith that proclaims that Jesus is able to do the things that only God could have the power to do. True faith is not a faith that sees the chair and approves it, or delights in it, or admires it, or praises it. True faith is a faith that sees the chair and sits in it, throws its whole weight on it, risks falling like a fool by leaning wholly into it and depending on nothing else for support. True faith is not just agreeing, but surrendering, because true faith is trust, and it is the kind that delights and amazes Jesus.

 

Author: Sean Kampondeni