Issue 825 – Everyone Has it – August 14, 2022
When I pastored “the cowboy church” in Sherwood Park, my Monday morning office was at a nearby Tim Hortons from 5-11 AM.
It was a time to meet with and visit with a large segment of the local community, as the “regulars” turned over every half hour or so. If you sit in a local coffee shop for 6 hours every Monday morning for years, you see and meet a wide range of people. Everyone from the homeless teens to the local big money people passes through eventually.
I met and befriended some great people. Some eventually came to the church; many remained steadfast in their opposition to anything faith-related. I had great conversations.
People from the community knew I would be there and frequently made a point of stopping to talk about the problems in their lives or their questions about “religion.”
I recall overhearing a conversation from one morning. It was when I first started going and didn’t know any of the regulars. I had just grabbed a coffee and sat down by myself. A couple of fellows I had never seen before were having a loud discussion.
One of the men said, “Who needs faith? I’ve lived my whole life without it.”
His friend replied with a sarcastic “Amen!” I was of the impression that they were making fun of a mutual friend or acquaintance.
They continued mocking anything to do with faith or religion for quite some time before moving on to another topic.
I wanted to (but didn’t) ask how they managed to sit or drink their coffee. The chairs hold them up, but only their faith in that fact allowed them to sit. They would never have sat down if they hadn’t faith in the chair’s safety. They had faith that the coffee cup wouldn’t suddenly break and pour scalding liquid on them; otherwise, they never would have picked those cups up.
We have faith that we will be alive in the morning, or we will never set our alarms. We have faith that we will be alive for the evening meal or wouldn’t plan the menu.
Whether we recognize it or not, we all have faith in something. We couldn’t function without it. Even the most ardent atheist has faith, not faith in God but faith in many things.
Faith is crucial; without it, our lives would fall apart.
Even more critical, though, is where you place your faith. If all your faith is in personal relationships, you will get burned at times because people and circumstances change, and you will eventually get hurt.
If all your faith is in your wealth, you’ll worry about the value of your investments, and while you can be wise and diligent about your investment choices, you could lose it all.
If your faith is in science, you’ll be shaken as new discoveries throw out old “facts.”
If your faith is in your own wisdom and abilities, you’ll be destroyed if something happens to take them away. When all my faith was in my abilities, and I suffered my brain injury, my whole world collapsed. Only coming to faith in Christ sustained me.
You can’t live life without faith; everyone has it. Unfortunately, while everyone has faith, most do not have faith in the right place. Your eternal destiny depends not only in faith but in faith in the right person.
There is only one unchanging place to put our faith, one true eternal hope. That place is Christ.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11:1-3
It is by faith in Christ that we are saved.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6
What is your faith in? If it is anything but Christ, it will eventually let you down. Only faith in Christ saves and is eternal.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed.
Kevin.
Gleanings From The Word.
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone.)
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