I have to say I am pretty excited to start the gospel of John together as a church! Personally, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Old Testament this past year and I am ready to learn from the life of Jesus. There is nothing quite like taking a closer look at our Lord and Savior and the way that He lived. It changes us.
This Sunday as we ventured into the first few verses of the book of John, I kept thinking about this concept of “belief” which is a central theme in John’s gospel.
I wondered to myself:
Why is belief so important to God?
Why is the concept of belief so central to the gospel?
It reminded me of this time when my kids were in the middle of a fight. Of course, one of them had one entire side to their story, and the other child had a completely different story! As a parent, there are often these moments where you are trying your best to lean on discernment and you simply don’t know which way to go. Finally, my daughter burst out with, “Why don’t you just BELIEVE me?!”
In this instance, belief would have meant everything to her. If she could have just persuaded us to actually put faith and trust in what she said…that would have changed everything! Her story would “win” and she would at least know that we took her at her word.
I never did find out who was telling the truth in that situation…but I do remember thinking about her words long after she said them. And now, I am thinking about how important “belief” is to God.
Belief is really an act of total trust…like the analogy of Pastor Jason bringing a chair on stage. When we sit down in that chair…we either trust it or we don’t.
The part that convicted me the most was where he said sometimes we sit on the edge of the chair…half believing it will hold us up…half believing it will cave in at any moment.
Between you and me? I think this is honestly how I live most of my life. One foot in my faith…the other trying to manage and control “just in case” the bottom falls through.
I trust God in theory, but I try my best to manage and control all outcomes so whatever His answer might be, I will still be OK. But the funny part about all of this is…He always had the control in the first place! So all my micro-managing actually gets me nowhere.
I can rest easy in the chair…I can sit back into His loving arms. But how do I do this when the rest of my heart, mind and body scream, “take control!! Manage this!!”
I am hoping and praying for us as a body as we venture into the book of John that we learn to walk out true “belief”. That we will cease to sit at the edge of the seat, not truly trusting in God…and move to a more comfortable sitting position where we fully rely on the grace and goodness of our Savior.
Life would be so much easier if we just learned to “trust”, right? Let’s lean into true belief as we walk side by side with Jesus, learning and growing from the One who holds the world together so very well.
This Sunday as we ventured into the first few verses of the book of John, I kept thinking about this concept of “belief” which is a central theme in John’s gospel.
I wondered to myself:
Why is belief so important to God?
Why is the concept of belief so central to the gospel?
It reminded me of this time when my kids were in the middle of a fight. Of course, one of them had one entire side to their story, and the other child had a completely different story! As a parent, there are often these moments where you are trying your best to lean on discernment and you simply don’t know which way to go. Finally, my daughter burst out with, “Why don’t you just BELIEVE me?!”
In this instance, belief would have meant everything to her. If she could have just persuaded us to actually put faith and trust in what she said…that would have changed everything! Her story would “win” and she would at least know that we took her at her word.
I never did find out who was telling the truth in that situation…but I do remember thinking about her words long after she said them. And now, I am thinking about how important “belief” is to God.
Belief is really an act of total trust…like the analogy of Pastor Jason bringing a chair on stage. When we sit down in that chair…we either trust it or we don’t.
The part that convicted me the most was where he said sometimes we sit on the edge of the chair…half believing it will hold us up…half believing it will cave in at any moment.
Between you and me? I think this is honestly how I live most of my life. One foot in my faith…the other trying to manage and control “just in case” the bottom falls through.
I trust God in theory, but I try my best to manage and control all outcomes so whatever His answer might be, I will still be OK. But the funny part about all of this is…He always had the control in the first place! So all my micro-managing actually gets me nowhere.
I can rest easy in the chair…I can sit back into His loving arms. But how do I do this when the rest of my heart, mind and body scream, “take control!! Manage this!!”
I am hoping and praying for us as a body as we venture into the book of John that we learn to walk out true “belief”. That we will cease to sit at the edge of the seat, not truly trusting in God…and move to a more comfortable sitting position where we fully rely on the grace and goodness of our Savior.
Life would be so much easier if we just learned to “trust”, right? Let’s lean into true belief as we walk side by side with Jesus, learning and growing from the One who holds the world together so very well.
Erika Pizzo
Erika is an author of various books on the topics of faith, mental health, and victory in Christ. Erika lives with her husband, daughter, son, and their fluffy poodle in sunny Southern California. Her two favorite things are a visit to the beach and a chai latte in hand.