Faith in the Son of God

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

After many years of pastoral observation, I’ve come to believe that many Christ followers think Jesus works harder on behalf of those who try harder. I’ve watched them trying to muscle up a stellar faith with the hopes that, someday, they’ll have a little more of Jesus. That’s my pastoral observation and here is my pastoral advice: you can stop any time now, it just doesn’t work that way. Jesus doesn’t work harder for those who try harder. 

Here’s why. God is not concerned with the quantity of your faith. Neither is He interested in the quality of your faith. What He is looking for is the object of your faith! Modern Christianity has proffered a veritable buffet of objects to put your faith in: health and prosperity, saints, legalistic works, spouses, bank accounts, retirement portfolios, and even pastors. None of these is a good substitute for Jesus as the object of your faith. Trust me, if you depend on anyone or anything other than Jesus, you are in for disappointment. All of the afore mentioned things (and all the other things we substitute for Jesus) are imperfect, therefore totally unqualified to hang your faith on.  

Think of it this way: faith in Christ is to the Christ follower what the skeleton is to the body. Remove the bones from your body and you’re nothing but a blob of meat on the pavement. The same is true with faith. It’s Christ, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who holds us up. 

It has been my experience that I have no control over the volume of my faith. What I can control, though, is the object of my faith — in whom I put my trust! The object of your faith makes all the difference in the world.  

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2.20