September 10
________________________________________BELIEVE IN CHRIST SO YOU MAY HAVE LIFE
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed. 30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.- John 20:24-31________________________________________
This is the story of the disciple of Jesus named Thomas who didn’t believe that his Master has resurrected until he saw with his very own eyes the imprint of the nails in His hands. Because Thomas wasn’t around when Jesus first showed Himself to His disciples after His resurrection, he didn’t believe Jesus came back from the dead. It was over a week when Jesus came again and Thomas was among the disciples that time. Jesus approached Thomas right away and placed his hands on His sides. Then, Thomas finally believed. Aren’t we so much like Thomas? We don’t believe until we see. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So, Thomas had unbelief. This is why Jesus addressed his lack of faith and commanded him to let go of unbelief. Faith is trusting what it true even if there is no evidence.
We are fallen people and we have very limited minds. When we don’t actually see proof of something, we won’t be convinced to have faith in that thing or person. In this account, Jesus teaches us the true meaning of believing. It is trusting Him despite the absence of a sign. We don’t always have to be convinced of something or someone before we make a decision to put our trust on it. Faith is putting trust first without knowing the outcome. It is the hope that what you expect is going to happen.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think people focus so much on the validity of something or someone?