A Necessary Faith

“Verily, I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”  Luke 18:17

Christians have a phrase that describes the kind of faith Jesus is speaking about in this verse.  We call it “childlike faith”.  It’s not “childish faith” or “immature faith”, but it describes genuine faith.  A little child has complete trust in his or her parents.  The child doesn’t worry about needs because he or she knows that Mama and Daddy will take care of them.  Of course, there are situations where the parents are abusive, negligent, or absent.  These are sad situations brought on by adults who do not know the love of God themselves and may have grown up in similar circumstances.  The experts tell us that those who are abused become abusers, I suppose because that’s all they have ever known.

Little children learn about God from their parents.  Little children are humble.  They believe literally what they are told.  Their little hearts are tender.  When a parent makes a promise to them, they don’t forget.  They hold the parent to his or her word.  Adults tend to be suspicious of others’ motives.  They also tend to exhibit pride and a belief that they are self-sufficient.  They worry and fret over things about which they have no control rather than trusting the One who made heaven and earth, who controls all things.  When we come to Christ, we must come humbly, believe His word, receive Him into our hearts, and trust Him for all eternity:  no pretense, no doubting, but only a sincere, pure, childlike faith.

The writer of Hebrews 11:1 gave us the definition of faith:  “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.  Faith is believing in the heart and mind that whatever God has promised to do or provide for the one who has given his or her life to Him, without a doubt, will happen.  The “substance” is the essential part of what one expects to happen while the “evidence” is the proof.  However, how can we see or perceive something that is out of our sight?  The answer:  faith, which is necessary to be able to believe what cannot be seen with the human eye.  It is knowing that if God said it, then it is as good as done.

There were only two people in scripture, a man and a woman, both Gentiles, whom Jesus described as having great faith.  Think about that for a moment:  only two people and neither one of them were Jewish.  One was the Roman centurion in Matthew 8:5-13, and the other was a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:22-28.  Neither one of these two were worshipers of the God of Israel, but they had enough faith in Christ to believe that He could heal those of whom they had made their requests for healing and could heal them from a distance.  The centurion said, “but speak the word only” (Matthew 8:8).  Jesus marveled at his faith (Matthew 8:10) and honored his request by healing his servant immediately.  The account of the Canaanite woman is very interesting.  She came to Jesus and asked that He heal her daughter who was possessed with a demon.  Jesus said nothing at first, and his disciples told Jesus to send her away.  But then Jesus did speak up and told her that He was sent to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” implying that His mission was not to Gentiles.  But she was not going anywhere until He healed her daughter.  She told Him that she understood what He was saying, but she had the faith that surely Gentiles can be allowed at least a small portion of God’s grace which comes from an overflow of God’s bounty.  In effect, she was saying that Jesus was the Master of the Gentile “dogs” as well.  He healed her daughter that same hour.

It is true that we can’t physically see all that God has promised to those who love Him, but if we believe His word, we can picture them from our human understanding in our mind’s eye.  I can imagine, based on the reality of my faith, what heaven looks like according to the descriptions in God’s word.  My faith has given me a knowledge of God and my future which is unavailable to those who do not believe.  Why would God reveal intimate details of His plan for eternity to those who do not believe?  Why would He trust His thoughts and ways to those who do not trust in Him?  If a person says they believe in some idea or philosophy, but they do not live according to the dictates or pattern of what they claim to believe, then they really don’t believe as they claim.  To believe in something is to act as if that something is true.  I choose to live my life in faith because I believe all that God said in His word.  After all, the future is in His hands.