THE OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF LIFE
– Dr. Neil Anderson
Mark 11:22
And Jesus answered saying to
them, "Have faith in
God"
The sun is perhaps the most
credible object of faith for the world. It appears to be immutable. It has
always been there, 24 hours of every day, 365 days a year. Without the sun,
people couldn't live. If the sun didn't rise tomorrow morning, what would happen
to the world's faith? All of humanity would be thrown into confusion.
If we have such great faith in
the sun, why don't we have even greater faith in the Son who made the sun and
all the rest of the fixed order of the universe?
Our faith is in God. Genuine
faith is born out of a knowledge of the will of God and exists only to fulfill
that will. Faith is not a means of getting man's will done in heaven; it is the
means of getting God's will done on earth.
After hearing me speak on
spiritual conflicts, a young man came by to talk about his personal life. He
said he'd had several experiences of not being able to speak the name of Jesus
aloud. I asked him about his faith. He thought he had made a decision for
Christ years earlier in an evangelistic meeting. He tried living with some
American Indians to continue his spiritual journey, but that proved to be
disastrous. He finally ended up living in a pastor's home where he was helped
with the assurance of his salvation. The pastor encouraged him to just go live
by faith.
The young man said to me,
"I've been trying to live by faith for three years, and it has been one
trial after another."
"Faith in what?" I
asked.
He didn't know how to respond.
This young man was trying to live by faith in faith. But faith itself is not a
valid object. The only valid object for faith is God and the revelation we have
of Him in His Word. Faith is the operating principle of life. The only
difference between Christian and non-Christian faith is the object. God must be
the object of our faith.
Prayer: Lord
God, I place my faith in You alone today. Help me not to allow anyone or
anything to take Your place as the object of my faith.
Sid Stewart
Executive Director
864 226-6193
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