Salad Bar Faith
Some people approach what they choose to believe like they would a salad bar. They pick and choose what they like and disregard the rest. The problem with this approach is that God doesn’t give us a choice of what to believe but of whether to believe. We must be careful not to confuse these two things.
For example, people take issue with such things as whether or not God created everything in just six twenty-four-hour days, or whether there was a literal Adam and Eve, or whether Noah preserved all land animals during a worldwide flood, or whether Jesus is the only way to heaven. These things are questioned by some Christians even though they are presented forthrightly in the text of Scripture.
Nevertheless, many feel free to amend what God has said and still call it faith!
Of course, we can believe whatever we choose. But when we choose to contradict what God has communicated in His word, we have chosen doubt over faith. Once again, God doesn’t give us a choice of what to believe but whether to believe!
So, the next time someone scoffs at you for believing the Bible, explain to them that God hasn’t given you the choice of what to believe but whether to believe, and you have chosen faith.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right" (2 Timothy 3:16, NLT).
Scrutinizing Seashells
My two-year-old granddaughter watched with great interest as her big sister and I hunted for seashells during a family day at the beach. When she asked if she could try, I plopped her down on a pile of shells and she went right to work. Immediately, without any instructions or coaching, she held up one seashell at a time and scrutinized it. Those that passed her inspection went into the bucket but those that didn't were tossed over her shoulder. I marveled over her decisiveness and I wondered what possible criteria does a two-year-old use to discern the worthiness of one shell over another.
So, I stole a peek at her booty. There were a number of perfect shells in her bucket but there were far more defective shells; shells with holes in them; shells that had been worn by the surf; shells that were chipped and broken; shells that would never have made it into my bucket. There didn't appear to be a rhyme or a reason for what made it into my granddaughter's bucket. Rather, the collection seemed to be random. Like someone had just scooped them up and dumped them in there.
If the ways of a two-year-old are mysterious, how much more are the ways of God?
Have you ever looked into the bucket of things that make up your life and wondered, "How'd that get in there?" Are there things in your life that you would have never selected for yourself? Does your life ever feel random to you, with no rhyme or reason to it? Like someone just scooped them up and dumped them in there?
But that isn't at all the case. Every shell in your bucket has been handpicked; every shell has been scrutinized; every shell has passed God's inspection. All the details of your life, your circumstances and the people you know have passed the mysterious criteria of the Eternal One, of God Himself.
Who can possibly begin to see what God sees, or judge things by His criteria? No, ours is not to understand what God places in our bucket. Ours is to trust that each shell has been placed there with some purpose.
If you can't understand the mind of a two-year-old, how do you expect to understand the mind of God?
"Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!" (Romans 11:33, NLT).
Lean Your Whole Weight On Jesus
John Paton, a missionary to a remote group of natives, was having a difficult time translating certain passages of the Bible into their language. It seemed that this particular group had no word for "believe." Then one day, one of the natives flopped into a chair, stretched out and propped his legs up on another chair.
He then expressed how good it felt to "lean his whole weight on" those chairs. The missionary quickly wrote the expression down.
When we believe in the promise of eternal life, we "lean our whole weight on" Jesus. To believe in the Gospel message is to transfer the full weight of our confidence and concerns to the finished work of Christ--to rest completely in the substitutionary work of Christ.
"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).