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"Some have attempted to define faith as belief without the support of evidence."


A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book, Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series) (p. 100). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

And that is so true?

Charles says, "Or, as the Mark Twain character Pudd’nhead Wilson put it, 'Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.' Many in the scientific community see faith as holding a belief that either contradicts or ignores reason. But that’s not what I call faith. That’s stupidity!"


Charles goes on, "Faith does not run contrary to evidence; faith goes beyond evidence. Faith doesn’t ignore reason, but faith doesn’t wait upon it either. Faith is merely a choice to trust, something we do every day. Go to the airport and at any given moment you’ll see a group of people board an aircraft—eighty tons of metal and wire assembled by the lowest bidder, maintained by people they’ve never seen, and flown by people they don’t know. Yet they buckle up and settle in by the thousands each and every day. They trust the reservation system, they trust the ground crew and pilots, they trust the aircraft, and they trust the laws of aerodynamics. They are literally flying by faith.

"However, suppose a man noticed a crack forming between the engine and the wing. If he boards the aircraft with a shrug, then the object of his faith may fall out of the sky. Faith doesn’t change reality, and it will not keep the man in the air. Only a trustworthy airplane will do that. Faith itself cannot accomplish anything, yet without faith, no one can fly."

He continues, "Belief in God—that is, the exercise of faith in Him—involves two essential elements: the correct knowledge and a right attitude.

"Correct knowledge. Someone can believe in the wrong thing with the sincerest conviction and end up no better off than he or she began. Suppose a woman wanted to fly to Chicago. She receives the flight information from her assistant and on the appointed day, drives to the airport. Once she arrives, she must go to the correct gate by a certain time. The sincerity of her belief won’t change the fact that if she stands at the wrong gate, she will either be turned away or will board the wrong plane.

"It’s not enough merely to believe there is a God. You must believe in the God who is there.

"Furthermore, you must know what He has said. What would you think of the woman flying to Chicago if she drove to the airport without knowing which airline, which flight, and the scheduled time of departure? She has a reserved seat waiting for her, but without the right knowledge, what good is her belief that her seat exists?"

Proverbs 14:12 says, 'There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."

He gives the other essential element, "Right attitude. Someone can believe in the right thing with the sincerest conviction, and still end up no better off than he or she began. Correct knowledge must be coupled with the right attitude. . . Belief cannot be genuine without action, and, in this case, the action to which we are called is ceasing.

"Therein lies the paradox. Our churning place would propel us forward, ever faster, in an attempt to accomplish for ourselves what God has already provided. . . In order to cease our striving, we must transfer our trust away from our own abilities, our own accomplishments, our own strength, and place it on His provision."

And that's what we do. We put our faith on Him and His provision, don't we? Yes, yes! #continuethought



 

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