“. . . for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
SIN IS THE RESULT OF FORSAKING THE TRUST WE WERE MEANT TO HAVE IN GOD. We see it first in the Garden of Eden, where as soon as Adam and Eve’s confidence in God’s goodness had been broken, they were willing to violate His will to get what they wanted (Genesis 3:1-6). Since then, the problem of sin has always been the same, and we’re all guilty of it. Failing to trust that God’s way is best, we’ve rebelled and committed treachery to get satisfactions we think are better than those God’s way would allow.
If a broken trust in God is the root of sin, it makes sense that for the problem of sin to be fixed, trust is going to have to be put back in its rightful place. That is why faith is so important in God’s plan for our restoration to His fellowship through Jesus Christ.
Faith begins with simple belief, an acceptance of the factual truth about God. But based on belief, faith also means trusting that God is good, His commands are always going to be better than our will, and in the end He is waiting for us in heaven if we will adhere to His plan for our redemption. When our immediate circumstances seem to cast doubt on these truths, it is only trust (based on the solid evidence of God’s trustworthiness, especially in Jesus’ resurrection) that will keep us faithful to our Father.
I love Adam Litmer’s definition of trust: “unwavering belief that God’s way is always the right way, without exception . . . and that our lives will always be best lived when lived for His glory.” If we reject the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5), there is no salvation for us. We must dispense with the doubts about God and His law that started us down the path of disobedience in the first place.
Abraham is the great example of trust. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Because he believed, Abraham obeyed. At God’s bidding, he risked everything he had in this world because he trusted God’s promise. And today, we can’t be God’s friends without banking on the promises of God as Abraham did.
“The pith, the essence of faith lies in this — a casting oneself on the promise” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
