Demonstrate Your Faith
Ian Revie
Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said…“Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.”
Mark 2: 5,11 (MSG)
My work continues with the unending need to drive business by agreeing contracts with our customers and suppliers. This activity can be very wearing, especially when either of the parties are less enthusiastic.
In a lot of our current church-based activities, whether in the prayer course or our ongoing housegroup discussion, the question of faith and works continues to feature. Not surprising as these are some of the bedrocks of our christian faith.
Much of the discussion is very similar to my work activity, where we know we need to develop great relationships to execute good business - however we are driven to draft contracts in case it all goes wrong. It takes a lot of effort or work to get to a good business relationship, and both parties need to move forward in good faith that the outcome will be worthwhile.
This reminds me of our relationship with God who guarantees us a great outcome, however we continue often to struggle in our day to day relationship build with Him. Faith is not a transaction, and having "more" faith does not function like a vending machine - where you insert belief and get a guaranteed result. God desires relationship with us, not a binding contract that enforces His will.
Faith is about trusting God, not forcing His hand. It is a relational dialogue, not a service agreement.
James teaches us “Faith without works is dead” (James 2: 14-26). Works are not the cause of salvation, but rather the evidence or fruit of a living faith. Faith is not just mental assent to truth (even demons believe, as mentioned in James 2:19), but a commitment that changes how we live.
Jesus provides us with great insight in his ministry:
He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic… “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it - got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, stunned - and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
Mark 2: 2-5,11-12 (MSG)
Notice the words ‘when Jesus saw their faith’ (Mark 2:5, NIV). Do we have faith in God, that shows God in us? What is the evidence (works) that show we truly believe Him and are taking Him at His Word?
It’s important to pray and believe, but what we do demonstrates our faith. For the four men who carried their sick friend to Jesus, demonstrating their faith meant refusing to let the crowd get in their way, or the roof stop them from getting to Jesus.
Sometimes we are closest to our victory when we face our greatest obstacles or opposition. A lot of people give up too easily. We say, ‘I’ve tried, but nothing I have done has worked.’ You must be more determined than that. If you can’t get through the crowd, climb up and come down through the roof.
Let’s be intentional and relentless. That’s what these men did, and Jesus rewarded them with a miracle. And when you are willing to demonstrate a determined faith, He can do the same for you too.
