. . . And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory . . . 1 Peter 1:8 In the Bible there are some folks whose reputations are a bit less than favorable and linger with them even today. For instance, there's "Doubting" Thomas. One statement earned him an unfortunate nickname that has really stuck!

In response to the other disciples' announcement that they had seen Jesus resurrected, Thomas said he would not believe unless he saw Jesus for himself and literally touched His wounds. Jesus was so gracious that He allowed Thomas to do just that. And while doing so, Jesus made an important statement: "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (John 20:29).

We have not seen Jesus, and yet we believe. We have this amazing gift called faith. And because we do, the Lord calls us blessed! Hey, it's absolutely normal to bet your whole life to serve a Lord and Savior you've never seen. It's the doubting that misses the mark. Even with no visual reinforcement, we know with absolute confidence that God is so authentic! Jesus is so real! And it is hard to even put into words how once you have experienced a relationship with Him you are never the same.

We bet our lives on unseen realities (Hebrews 11:1a CPV). We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus loves that! He loves it when we love Him having never seen Him. The Bible says to know the love of Christ surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19).

Absolutely nothing compares to the incredible blessing it is to have faith in Jesus. The Apostle Paul said, "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8a NLT).

Press on and be blessed!
Pastor Jeff

Now faith is the turning of dreams into deeds; it is betting your life
on the unseen realities . . .
          (Hebrews 11:1a Clarence Jordan's Cotton Patch Version)


© 2007 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.