Free Will Acts of Faith

Scripture: Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is sufficient for us.” John 14:8

Observation: When it comes to faith, humans are at odds with the very character that makes us unique in God's creation - free will. We wish to retain our options when it comes to God, and thus want definitive proof of God before believing. However, there are two issues with this:

1) God already provides us with proof many choose to ignore.

2) If God every provided people with some sort of proof that was so powerful that it would be impossible to deny it, that would remove our free will and thus nullify our faith.

Philip is unsure he wants to choose to believe in Jesus. Instead, he wants to have no other choice. That would be submission, not faith.

Application: In our "post-Christian" society, this is the attitude of many. They will not believe in God or Jesus because they cannot find "proof". Of course, they cannot find proof because they choose not to find it. They are more willing to believe lies on television that truth expressed in sunset. They are more likely to believe philosophies espoused in fictional novels than wisdom defined in the Bible. They are more likely to believe in zombies than the risen Christ.

What do I believe that replaces my faith in God? I believe in my abilities at work, which supplants my faithful reliance on God's grace. I believe in my ability to protect my life and my family, which causes me to fall short in asking for God's protection.

Faith only exists as a result of the free will bestowed by God ... faith only exists when it is a free choice whether or not to believe. Full submission that should result from that faith is also a choice, and it is a choice I need to make more often during my daily walk.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for allowing us to serve you this Christmas season. I wish I had a lighter heart in this. I love you and believe in you, and I will try to live that in my thought life more often. I surrender to you. Amen.