"Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
-Hebrews 11:1
I grew up in the church. Christianity was all that I knew as
a child. God and Jesus were all there was and that was it. As much as I have
come to appreciate this upbringing over the years, I have found that this lifestyle
was somewhat of an indoctrination. Up until I was about sixteen, I “believed”
in Christ because that’s what I had been taught and today I realize that for
those sixteen years, I had been blindly following what was “the norm”. I am now
nineteen years old and have since learned that there are several religions in
the world and multiple beliefs pertaining to spirituality.
A few days ago, I was listening to a podcast about
Christianity and Buddhism. As I listened to the speaker explaining the ways in
which the two religions are more similar than they are different, I began to
ask myself some questions. Is Christianity THE religion? If I had not been
raised in a Christian home, would I be a believer today? Do science and God
coincide or are they mutually exclusive? I then thought back to my early days
of living a devoted Christ-life and thought of how I would’ve immediately
dismissed those questions because “you shouldn’t question God” and “you should
just accept some things”. I recoiled at the thought of believing something that
I didn’t know. See, the Bible encourages BLIND faith – believing the unseen.
Nowhere is it said that we should be in the dark about our faith. In fact, the
Bible encourages the pursuit of truth.
“Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.”
-John 20:29
“And you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
-John 8:31
However, there is another type of BLIND faith in which the
believer does not fully comprehend what he or she believes. God told me that it
is okay to ask questions and to truly delve deep into your faith in the pursuit
of what is true. Jesus will never lead you where there is no truth because HE
IS THE TRUTH (John 14:16). If you ask for God’s guidance while you are on this
exploration of faith and religion, he will lead you to your answers. It appears
most of us these days are in a cult based on indoctrination. We are foolishly
accepting everything that we are told rather than doing our own investigation
and truly getting to know God’s heart, Christ’s love and how the two relate to
the world.
One of my biggest fears is being asked why I believe in Jesus
or how I can believe in God when there is suffering or how the universe came to
be, and not being able to answer because I simply have not done my research. By
research I mean praying, reading the Word and asking God to reveal these things
to me so that I might be able to answer. I want to be able to defend my faith
when someone asks. Maybe you have been doing your research but have not been
given any answers. That is okay! Continue to seek the truth. Don’t be a blind
sheep following a wolf instead of its shepherd.
But sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks
you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
-1 Peter 3:15
Asking questions is not questioning God or Jesus. If you
believe in Jesus, you believe in Jesus. It’s as simple as that. I am not asking
you to question your decision to believe, but rather to make sure that you
truly know God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and to make sure that you know why
you believe what you do. I encourage you to start seeking the truth today and to
ask God to guide you on your journey to believing the known.
God truly loves you.
With love,
Mandile.
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