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).
It's Time for a Trim and a Shave
Imagine a customer at a barber getting his hair and beard trimmed when the barber and patron strike up a conversation. They talk about many things and various topics, and for a moment, the topic shifts to God.
The barber says, "I don't believe God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, just look out there in the street. What happens out there shows that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, why are there sick people? Why are there abandoned children? If God exists, surely there would be no sickness or suffering. I can't imagine a loving God would let all this happen."
The customer pauses to think for a moment, but doesn't respond, not wanting to start an argument. The topic changes, the barbar finishes his work, and the customer leaves the shop.
He no sooner walks out the door than he sees a man on the street with long, unkempt hair, dirty and tangled, with an untrimmed beard. The man looked dirty and neglected.
The customer turns on a dime and marches back into the shop, "You know what? Barbers don't exist!"
The barber objects, "How can you say that? I am here, and I am a barber. And I just cut your hair!"
"No!" the customer retorts boldly, pointing out the window. "Barbers don't exist, because if they did, there would be no people with long, dirty hair and untrimmed beards like that man out there."
"But barbers do exist!" the barber argues. "What you see is their own fault; why don't they come to me?"
"Exactly!" the customer agreed. "That's the whole point!"
The argument that God must NOT exist because ugliness and evil does, is nothing but a strawman fallacy of the ultimate proportion.
In this ugly, unkempt, messy, stinky, dirty world, God indeed exists. Yet it is up to US to seek Him. And once we seek Him, it is up to US to actually settle into His chair to let Him conform us into a more beautiful image ... into HIS image!
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13, ESV).
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV).
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29, ESV).
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2, ESV).
"And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Colossians 3:10, ESV)."And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24, ESV).
Divine Eyewear
On April 8, 2024, the world stood in awe as God put on a great, cosmic show in the form of a total eclipse of the sun.
According to NASA and Space.org,
The great North American total solar eclipse of April 8 [2024] is over, but remember: Never observe the sun without proper protection. Get a pair of safe solar eclipse glasses from reputable dealers ... to ensure you and your family remain safe when observing future solar eclipses.
If you were actually going to see the moon eclipse the sun you had to put on a pair of specially made glasses. If you decided you were going to do it your way to look at the eclipse without proper eyewear, not only would it appear as nothing more than a big, bright blur, but your eyes would stand to suffer severe damage.
So in other words, to observe the sun, you need special glasses to not only see clearly, but to see safely.
In much the same way, we need God's spiritual glasses to clearly see Him and the world of activity, circumstances, and experiences all around us.
Our spiritual eyes were opened the day He touched us and we believed, but the need for us to daily see His will in our lives requires us to put on the glasses He has provided in His word.
The problem we all have, even if we are already believers in Christ, is that we have a distorted view of what God wants us to see. We go through life ignoring divine perspective.
As we face trials of all sorts that cause us pain, or aggravation, or even anger in us, we struggle to make sense of it all. Yet here are spiritual battles going on all around us. If we could physically see the spiritual world, we would be like the shepherds who saw the angels at Christ's birth and were greatly afraid. We are a part of a greater reality than our 5 senses can perceive.
Only in putting on the glasses of divine perspective, afforded through the Word of God, can we clearly (and safely!) navigate the challenges of life.
"Open my eyes [to spiritual truth] so that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law" (Psalms 119:18, Amplified Bible).
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12, ESV).