Just Believe Already

When my son was in 2nd grade, we played this little game every afternoon after school. It was called “Guess what “Toby” did/said today?” I hated this game.

Now, Toby – who isn’t really Toby, but in an effort to protect the not-so-innocent, we’re gonna call him Toby – was a friend of Riley’s and a teacher’s kid. God bless him, but he was trouble – in it, causing it, all over it. He was in Riley’s class and never “stayed on green.” He provided unsolicited, mortifying and life-changing entertainment for my quiet, yet observant, fly-under-the-radar kid. How nice for me.

Most afternoons, Toby made his way to my classroom to “play” with Riley. This included wrestling on the floor with an unwilling participant, messing things up, breaking things, saying words I’d hoped my son would not even know now at 25, let alone at 7, and putting my people magnets into “positions” that no 7-year-old should know anything about. These afternoons usually culminated with me ordering Toby out of my classroom in what can only be described as my best teacher voice, with a hint of this-momma-is-about-to-lose-it in there somewhere. Oh yeah, good times.

So one December afternoon, it was no surprise when Riley marched into my room and said,

“Mom, you’ll never believe what Toby said today!”

I cringed internally, braced myself and asked,

“Oh, gosh! What?”

“He said there’s no such thing as Santa!”

Well, I breathed a sigh of relief and said,

“You’re kidding! Well, what did you say? What do you believe?”

“Oh, I know there’s a Santa.”

“How?”

“Well, remember that year that I got a PlayStation? There’s no way you or Dad had enough money to buy that!”

Out of the mouth of babes, right? Now, believe me, I made the most of this declaration. For years. I used to tease my son in high school, saying,

“If you don’t believe, you don’t get presents.”

He would laugh and roll his eyes, but he affirmed each time that he “believed.” He’s no dummy, my kid.

As I studied Romans 10 this week, I kept thinking about Paul’s tender and compassionate words; his hopes for the Jewish people. He just wanted them to believe.

If you’ve been able to read Romans 10 this week, you know the story: the Jews were so caught up with and focused on the Law, that they missed Jesus. How incredibly sad! The very thing that God used to point to the coming of Jesus, the very thing Jesus came and fulfilled was the very thing that tripped up God’s own people – Jesus’ own people – and kept them from recognizing Him. It breaks my heart and it broke Paul’s too.

If you’ll remember, Paul – who used to be Saul – was Jewish by birth and raised as a self-proclaimed “Jew among Jews.” He spent years following the Law to the letter and persecuting people who followed this Jesus and this new heresy called The Way (what Christianity was called at this time.) He did all this because he was convinced that this, these actions, this performance, pleased God. Until his natural eyes were closed and his spiritual eyes were opened one day and everything, including his name, changed. And guess what? Paul believed. He instantly believed.

He didn’t set out on a journey to prove Jesus was the Messiah; he didn’t tell Jesus that he should be counted as a Believer because of how well he followed the Law, he simply believed. Paul spells it out for us here in Romans 10:4, 9-11, 13:

For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the Law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God…If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.” For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The poor Jews. They were so focused on the forest, they missed the beautiful trees! Yeah, poor Jews, but how many times do I do this same thing? How often do I have the attitude and complete actions that indicate I believe I have to and CAN earn my salvation? Like, that’s not even a thing, Sherra!

“God, look at me. I read 17 chapters today in the Bible – gold star, right? I went to every night of the special church services, another gold star, God! Yep, I certainly am worthy of salvation!”

No ma’am! I can’t possibly earn my salvation, the Law makes that very clear. There’s. No. Way. I will never be good enough on my own! And, Friends, God knew that! That’s why He makes salvation so simple! Just believe…

Now, I get that it’s a balancing act. If you’ve ever spent any time in the book of James, you know that when we say “believe,” we attach action to it. James reminds us in chapter 2, verse 26 that,

Faith without works is dead.

But these works are not about earning our salvation, they are about growing in our relationship with God, impacting the kingdom, things that should happen after we are saved. Nope, salvation is a gift, Friend; it’s not something we can ever earn.

The Jews were so stubborn and enamored with their precious Law – they were so impressed with how well they could follow it to the letter! But God wasn’t impressed; He knew that, even though they knew, quoted and “followed” the Law, their hearts were far away from Him. And, Guys, that’s all God’s ever wanted: our hearts.

Just like Riley at 7 didn’t launch an investigation to prove Santa existed or stay up all night each year on December 24 to see him with his own eyes, but simply believed, it’s the same with God. He only wants us to believe with all of our hearts that Jesus is the Messiah, that He died for our sin, was raised back to life again and sits as our Advocate to the Father right now. We just need to believe it. Do we? Do I?

Well, I’m far from the model Christian; I have a long list of areas in my life that need to be more like Christ. There are many things about this life in Christ that I don’t understand fully, but you know what? What I do understand about my Jesus is enough for me to fully, 100% believe – in Him, about Him, for Him and through Him. And nothing will ever change that!