Friday, December 19, 2014

The True Believer

Blog »    

The True Believer


Friday, December 19, 2014
Jeff Lampl


Believe in God, believe also in me” 
 John 14:1

What might it look like to live as a true believer this Christmas in contrast to a person who doesn’t believe?   Following are a few random contrasts.   Maybe you would like to take a stab at adding to the list.   It seems to me that none of us are genetically or by way of our upbringing “doomed” to skepticism or unbelief.  Rather attitudes can be chosen.  They can be practiced.  They can become godly habits.  A believing godly posture toward all of life is to a great degree a learned and practiced behavior.

The unbeliever’s basic approach toward life and God is “if God exists, how could God have done this!”
The believer’s posture toward life is, “how is it that so much good exists in a world that is so fallen?”    

The unbeliever counts his entitlements.
The believer looks for and counts his undeserved blessings.  

The unbeliever seeks what he feels he deserves.
The believer needs no more than what he currently has.  

The unbeliever wants what he doesn’t have.
The believer has all he wants.  

Unbelievers blame God and others for what’s wrong in the world.
Believers are amazed that God has forgiven them.  

Unbelievers see their own deservedness and experience a sense of injustice when what they feel they deserve isn’t acknowledged.
Believers see their own sin and are amazed at God’s grace.
 

Believers practice looking at this Baby born in 6 BC and see God Himself containing the entire universe and the healing of the world contained within him.
The unbeliever, well, the unbeliever just sees a Bible story.    And for him it is at best a story to which he may assent intellectually, but is not a story that compels his surrender.
 

The day before he died Jesus prayed this prayer,  

“This is Eternal Life (the Life of the Ages) (the Life that is Truly Life) (Life beyond simple existence) to know You the One and only God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”  John 17:3


Comment
   

For more:   follow on Twitter @jefflampl  

No comments:

Post a Comment