You see a man get into his car. He puts the key into the ignition and for 30 minutes he turns, turns and turns the key. Nothing happens. You move closer to see if you can help. As he turns the key, you hear nothing – no sound. You move closer and ask if there is a problem that you can help with. He answers politely that there is no problem, all is just fine.
What would you think of this man?
You ask the man why he continues to turn the key when it is obvious nothing is working? He replies that there is no problem. He tells you that the instructions he got with the car told him to have faith and it would work just fine. He says that he is practicing his faith and all is well.
Now what do you think about him?
Seeing the instructions lying on the dashboard, you gently reach in and take them to read. The instructions say, “Have faith, in the following procedures, and the car will work just fine:
1) flip blue switch under dash to connect ignition switch with battery.
2) Insert key and turn.
Now what do you think of this man?
Yet over and over again we see people going to church, reading the Bible and praying. Doing the many “acts” without results. The life is still bound by sin, miserable, full of pain and sickness. If this sounds familiar and you see it taking place in your life, isn’t it time to take a hard look at the instructions again? Maybe you missed something. Maybe faith isn’t just “believing”, but believing what the manual says and obeying it.
When I landed in prison I realized that something was wrong. I made a decision to throw out the knowledge that my pastor, church and denomination had taught me and to study the instructions for truth. I wanted to know what went wrong. Either the Bible was a lie or the people who were telling me their “truth” were liars. I opened my Bible to begin an odyssey that changed my life. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32. I found the truth and it did set me free.
Faith is being “sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1. The key words are “sure” and “certain”. How many times would you flip a light switch on and off, on and off, before you lost faith and quit if it did not turn on the light? Two times? Three times? How many times before you were sure and certain that it did not work? Then what would you do? Change the light bulb and put in a new one that worked? In the Christian walk, why do people cling to their belief that doesn’t work? Why not dump it and get one that works?