Merriam Webster’s definition of faith is good—a firm belief in something for which there is no proof—but I like God’s Word even better: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”1 Faith is assurance; faith is conviction. It is not blind nor deaf nor dumb—which Merriam’s definition implies. Faith is actually intellectual and passionate confidence! Faith happens when people think about God on a rational and spiritual level.
Faith is the opposite of anxiety. Jesus had some excellent advice for his faithful yet worrisome disciples: “Do not be anxious about your life.”2 Those are comforting words in and of themselves, but Jesus’ analogy about why we should not worry is even better: He says, “Consider the ravens.”3 And then adds, “Consider the lilies.”4 Think about the birds and flowers? How is that relevant? The word “consider” is katamanthano and it means to “examine closely.” The point Jesus is making is that we should stop and think! Consider. Ponder. Contemplate. Analyze. Meditate on God and how he loves his creation. If God loves the birds and the flowers (and he does!), we can assume he loves humans more. If God bothers to take care of the birds and the flowers (and he does!), he will take care of humans even more. This is not a difficult concept. Jesus says emphatically: God knows what we need! He will take care of us! Think about it!
I am convinced that people do not believe (have faith) in God mostly because they do not think about God. God is simply not part of their lives—until things go wrong (read last week’s blog). But my response to ungodly people (for that is the definition of those who do not have faith in God!) is this: Think! Take time to ponder the important issues of life! Like the point of it all! And what happens when we die! Think!
Faith begins with thinking, trying to make sense out of things. Godly people (those who have faith in God) are really the most contemplative people around. Godly people love God and meditate on God’s ways. What is the result of meditating on God’s ways? “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers.”5 Thinking about God and meditating on God’s ways makes a person fruitful, healthy, and rich—all metaphors, of course.
What happens to the ungodly people who do not mediate on God’s ways? They “are like chaff that the wind drives away.”6 This depicts the daily life of those who do not have faith. James expounds on it even more: “For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”7 At the very least, the ungodly are unstable people for they have no firm foundation—opposed to a rooted tree, for example. And the end result of those who are ungodly (wicked)? “The way of the wicked (ungodly) will perish.”8
Perhaps we should think about God more.
1Hebrews 11:1 2Luke 12:22 3Luke 12:24 4Luke 12:27 5Psalm 1:3 6Psalm 1:4 7James 1:6 8Psalm 1:6