One Step of Faith

John 4:47 - When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.

When the government official heard that Jesus was in Galilee, he took a step of faith to travel there to ask Him to heal his son.  It was quite a distance to travel (especially without a car), about 25 miles, and he could have easily said that it was too far to go, but he didn't.  He took that first step of faith on the road from Capernaum to Galilee to ask Jesus to heal his son.

How often do we find ourselves saying, "If God would just show himself, I could believe."?  It can be a difficult challenge to believe without seeing.  After all, isn't that what our culture tells us?  Doesn't the secular world view tell us to believe what we can see, feel, and touch?

When Thomas doubted, Jesus said, "You believe because you have seen me.  Blessed are those who believe without seeing me" (John 20:29).  I believe that would account for all of us.  How much does God bless us when we take that first step of faith on our road of life?  The answer is a lot.

When we take that first step of faith, something changes inside of us.  As we take the time to develop that deep, intimate, personal, and loving relationship with our Lord and Savior, He transforms us more and more into His image.  As Paul said, we are to let God transform us into new people by changing the way we think (Romans 12:2).  A lot of people (myself certainly included) can get very impatient and frustrated when this process of transformation doesn't happen at the speed we expect it to.  Doesn't our culture also tell us that we can have what we want, when we want it?

Paul also reminds of two other key things to remember in our walk with Christ.  First he tells us not to copy the behaviors and customs of this world (Romans 12:1), and that we are also very much a work in progress that won't be completed until we are reunited with Jesus in Heaven (Philippians 1:6).

Sometimes it's a tall order to be patient with this work in progress, but as Jesus said, we are blessed when we take that one step of faith and believe without seeing.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me patience.  I realize that I can be a slow learner when it comes to this, but I trust in Your infinite capability to do a good work in me that will not be completed until I have been reunited with You in Heaven.  I pray for those that haven't been able to take that first step of faith.  My prayer is that You will stir in their heart so that they will, and then they will see just how blessed they are by taking it.  I pray that we will not allow themselves to be conformed to the behaviors and customs of this world, and will let You transform us into the new person You have always had planned for us all.  In Jesus' name, Amen!



God Bless!!!