Blind faith not required

Is there such a thing as blind faith?

Almost always, humans need proof to believe. Belief comes from seeing it with our own eyes, touching and feeling it. Once we experience, we believe.

You can’t force yourself to believe something or will yourself to have faith. Faith doesn’t come from discipline, emotions, or from rule following.

In life, blind faith rarely exists, so why do we accept this with our religion? Why would we hang our hat, our life, on blind faith? 

Christ is quite the opposite. He never asks for blind faith. Rather, He says taste and see.

The evening of the Day of Resurrection, Jesus miraculously entered a locked room and showed His hands and side to the disciples. They saw the marks and believed. No blind faith required. They saw and touched.

Thomas wasn’t at this meeting and when the disciples told him what happened, he naturally didn’t believe. He said, “unless I see the marks, I won’t believe.” Jesus appeared to Thomas showing the marks and Thomas believed. He saw and believed.

About a week later, seven of the disciples fished all night, catching no fish. Jesus approached them, and they didn’t recognize Him. He told them to drop their nets, they obeyed, and they caught 153 fish. At breakfast on the beach with Christ, they knew it was Him because of the miracle with the fish. They experienced and knew it was Jesus.

Over and over, this is life with Jesus. The signs, the miracles provided proof of who He was.

What about today? Does it take blind faith to believe in Jesus?

I think I had blind faith for much of my early life. I had intellectual belief. I knew He existed, died on the cross, and rose again. I would never have questioned that intellectually. It was fact in my mind.

But, maybe this was blind faith?

For me, things changed when I began reading His Word. My heart began to be stirred. I began recognizing, seeing, and feeling His work in my life. Dots were connected as I saw Him guiding my life. Prayers were answered, often in ways that I didn’t want in my life but in ways that I needed to direct my life.

Just like the disciples, I experienced His miracles, His movement in my life. And, just like the disciples, I believed.

I have pondered the question of when I placed my faith in Jesus many times. But, it really doesn’t matter. It has no bearing on the present. 

We should never accept “blind faith” wth our religion. Jesus is not calling us to an empty, fact based belief. This is not the calling of Christ. He has so much more to offer.

Just as He gladly showed Thomas the marks on his hands, He wants to show you how He works. And, the only way that He will be revealed is to take the step.

The step doesn’t miraculously give faith. Faith doesn’t come by steps or works. Faith is a miracle, given freely, requiring nothing (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But, the step reveals Christ, builds your faith, maybe moves you from a mostly intellectual belief to a heart belief. And, once He grabs your heart, you truly began to see his goodness.

I don’t know what that step is for you. Maybe it is picking up His Word daily, a great first step by the way. Maybe it is the conversation you need to have. Maybe the forgiveness that needs to come from you or that needs to be accepted by you. Maybe it involves a decision that He is pointing to that you have been ignoring. I have steps rolling through my brain right now that I need to take.

Whatever the case, our action reveals the work of Jesus in our life. With no steps of faith, how can we see Jesus?

The promise of faith isn’t blind, intellectual belief. Faith isn’t human rules. There is so much more.

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. Matthew 15:8-9