Oh my gosh, fall's here. I see more leaves on the ground everyday. I vacuum them up with the lawn-mower, but, there's always more. My littlest granddaughter said recently, "Nanny, it feels like fall." Yes, it did. That reminded her about jumping into piles of leaves at their other grandparents house just days before... which reminded me of my long-ago, fun days of fall and Halloween. I loved the old Peanuts cartoon about Halloween, called, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." The story goes (as Linus tells it) that when a person's heart is pure, and their belief is strong, the Great Pumpkin rises up out of the pumpkin patch on Halloween night and gives that little girl or boy huge rewards! Or so Linus thinks... All that thinking about Linus' mythical pumpkin makes me ask this question. Do you have any mythical traditions, or superstitions about faith? Do you have a 'Linus tale' or two tucked away somewhere? Here's a common myth many Christians share: Many believe that Christian faith is blind. Nope. That's false. Faith is not blind. Faith is based on facts, reason, and evidence. The verse many think of is Paul's command to 'walk by faith, not by sight.' [2 Corinthians 5:7] That verse simply means to live knowing what you are receiving after this life. Eternity cannot be seen now, but the work Christ accomplished on the Cross can be seen in answers to our prayers, in the sanctification faith brings into our life, or the change in a loved one who comes to faith in Christ, and so much more! So the act of believing DOES NOT make us blind. Back to the Great Pumpkin. Poor little Linus sat in that pumpkin patch all night. The Great Pumpkin didn't appear with rewards for Linus because the Great Pumpkin didn't exist. Linus had a false impression that grew into a precept in his life. When we read the Bible we don't want to read into it what we want it to say, but we need to let it speak to us. That is we need to consider context and not try to make some precept into something unique just for us or a friend. So faith is not ONLY believing, but it's believing because you have knowledge of the elements making up this truth, you have agreement with those elements, and you have CONFIDENCE in them as ‘of God’ with the ability to influence life and circumstances for good! "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrew 11.1 ~ Andi
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