Faith

I'm gonna be a bit preachy in this post, so be warned.....

This season is one in which many people reflect on their past year and make plans to address the coming year anew. It's a great time for making plans to improve ourselves by exercising more, drinking less, eating more healthy foods, etc. It's a time of reflection on the past year to see if we met our goals or if not, where can we improve in the next.

It's a time to also reflect on the topic of faith. After all, this is the season where we celebrate the birth of the Savior or we celebrate the dedication of the holy temple in Jerusalem during the 2nd century BCE or we celebrate the Jerry Seinfeld holiday of Festivus or we celebrate Kwanzaa. Everyone in the United States is free to celebrate any holiday or activity they choose during this time of paid holidays and parties. It's a Thing......

I have been driving a lot and when I drive, I think. I ponder. I surmise. I also yell a lot at other drivers, but that's another topic....

My recent driving took me to San Antonio and back within a 24 hour period and I had a lot of windshield time to ponder. I pondered on the birth of Jesus and what that means to me. I am not ashamed to claim Him as my personal Savior. I believe He is also available to anyone that believes in Him and repents of their sin as their Savior. I believe this with all my heart, but I know that some (or most if some pundits are to be believed) don't agree with this statement. They believe otherwise or they claim to believe nothing. I thought a lot about this as I drove and it brought me to the topic of faith.

Faith is "something that is believed especially with strong conviction" as defined by Miriam-Webster. A person can have faith in a rising sun, a cycle of seasons, a close friend and confidant, or any other thing or circumstance that the person has a conviction about. In most instances, the thing or circumstance has proven to be trustworthy through past actions or support. Having faith in an unproven thing or circumstance is unusual and could be dangerous and unhealthy. Faith normally occurs from a personal experience or from the word of a trusted confidant who has personal experience with the thing or circumstance.

I trust the word of God because I have seen it proven out with my own experiences. I have seen lives changed thru prayer. I have experienced healings that couldn't be explained by modern medicine. I have faith.

All of this went through my head as I drove along I-35 yesterday. I wondered why people put faith in unproved ideas or people. I wondered why history repeats itself with disastrous results when faith is misplaced (e.g., wars caused by misplaced trust/faith in leaders or treaties). I wondered why God allows faith that is different than that in His Plan to continue.

Then I remembered. Free will. God allows us to experience hurt, pain, death, loss, joy, happiness, and misplaced trust as part of growth. He always wants us to return to Him, but He doesn't force it. We are His children and do we always protect our children when we know they're headed into a bad place ? No.

God is aware of misplaced faith. God is aware of isolation after death. God has said in His Word that He wants no one to perish, but all to come to faith in Him. He hurts anytime a person is lost without coming to faith in Him. He searches out the 1 out of the 100. He has put out the Great Commission for His believers to make sure that His message is told. But.....

Some will ignore it. Some will try to change it for their own profit. Some will come up with their own message of faith that differs greatly from His. But, the bottom line is that we will all face God in the end and we'll either have our name written in the Book of Life or we won't. We will have either made the faith journey to Jesus' feet or we won't. We will either accept that the baby in the manger on that cold night in Bethlehem is the only way to God or we won't. It's our personal choice. God won't tell you which way to go. He has already given us the answer to the only question that matters, but we still need to answer correctly. Or we won't.....

I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy 2023 !!!!!!!! I am praying for us all to answer this faith question correctly !!!!!