Let Us Believe

This time of year, many of us are busy making New Year resolutions. I wonder how many would put “have faith” on their list? The Bible tells us that we only need faith the size of a mustard seed (Luke 17: 5-6) which, I believe, is a metaphor for just a little bit. Why a mustard seed? Because faith grows (Romans 10: 17). We see this in the life of Simon Peter. When Jesus stepped into his boat one day, Peter, a seasoned fisherman, obeyed his instruction to go fishing despite his scepticism, which, to be fair, was based on experience: he and his partners had fished all night long without catching anything. After getting the catch of his life, he was convicted of his unbelief and said “depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord” (Luke 5: 8-10). He went on to become one of Jesus’ closest disciples and an apostle with an important role in the formation of the church (Matthew 16: 13-18; Acts 2: 14-47).

There is a well known Bible verse that we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2: 8). What is often unnoticed is that we are saved by grace through faith. Grace works through faith! In other words, where there is no faith, grace cannot abound (Hebrews 11:6). Many of the patriarchs and great people of God were seriously flawed but were still used mightily by God because they had one thing going for them: they believed God. That’s how much God values faith.

Furthermore, as Christians, faith is an important part of our spiritual armour. We are told in Ephesians 6: 16 that the shield of faith enables us to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. You see, unbelief was the original sin that led to man’s fall from grace (Genesis 3). Unbelief was also the besetting sin of Israel and we see in the Torah that they continually doubted God and complained, despite His mighty deliverance from their bondage in Egypt (Exodus 17: 1-7; Numbers 20: 1-13). It is also ultimately why they did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah (John 1: 45-46; John 7: 40-43; Matthew 13: 54-58). We are warned in the Bible not to forfeit the promise of salvation and God’s rest through unbelief (Psalm 95: 7-11; Hebrews 3: 14, 18-19 & 4: 1-2).

And so, in this New Year, let us resolve to trust God. Pray about it (Mark 9: 23-24), read the Bible to know what God has done in the past and be encouraged because He does not change (Malachi 3: 6) – if He’s done it before, He can do it again.

From The Faith Identity, have a Faith-ful New Year!