Friday, March 12, 2010

FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


“SUBSTANCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN”


So many preachers have used the test of faith illustration about a man with a wheelbarrow walking on a tightrope. One could not control his admiration for the extraordinary feat by jumping up and down shouting that he’s now a believer of the stunt man. Then a preacher asked him if he truly believes in the man. And he answered with a big Yes. He again asked him if he could ride on the wheelbarrow while being pushed by the stunt man on the tightrope. And he said, “That’s a different story”

That answer “That’s a different story” sounds familiar and common with anybody’s pronouncement of Christian faith or faith in God when it comes to a real test. Normally a man may proclaim his faith but cannot commit his life to it.

In the New Testament, there’s an account of a rich man who proudly told Jesus that he obeyed all of his commandments and asked whether he would go to heaven after death. Jesus asked him to leave all his riches and follow him. The rich man was not able to do it.

Faith is not plain belief. It is deep and divine. The Bible said that if one has faith even the size of a mustard seed, then he can command the mountain to move and it will move.

Faith is also described as like that of a child’s faith. A child obeys without question. Abraham of the Old Testament obeyed God like a child when told to offer his beloved son Isaac as a burnt offering. It was just a test of Abraham’s faith in God and he passed when God stopped him from doing it. That is why it is said of the children as the kingdom of Heaven.

Faith also does not require sight. It does not apply to the saying “to see is to believe.” The Bible teaches believers to walk “by faith not by sight…nor by might but by my Spirit, sayeth the Lord.”

The essence of Faith, therefore, is the “substance of things not seen and things hoped for.” The Scriptures say “God is Spirit, and one must worship God in spirit and in truth”

I think only a chosen few are endowed with the divine gift of Faith yet whosoever may ask God for it, according to the Bible. I WANT IT! Don’t you?


End

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