I think we tend to complicate what Christianity is or what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I think it’s actually pretty simple and God communicates that simplicity in scripture. I think God wants pretty much what any person wants or asks of the people in their life. He wants us to believe him. I think we all want people to believe that we’re telling them the truth when we communicate (especially if we’re telling them the truth). I think the greatest expression of respect and love is to have someone believe you and because they truly believe, they act on it.
I know that’s what I want most from people, especially from my children. I want them to believe that I’m telling them the truth and therefore act in a way that says they really believe me. But, I don’t want them to believe me because it makes me feel good for them to do what I want them to do. I want them to believe me, because I believe what I’m telling them is true, and I believe if they believe and act accordingly, that they will be better off. I believe that if they believe and live what I believe to be true, that they will experience the full life that God designed them to have, and they will avoid a lot of pain, heartache, and destruction. So, that’s why I want them to believe me, because I love them and want what’s best for them.
I think God simply wants the same for us. He simply wants us to believe him because he loves us. He doesn’t want us to experience the pain, heartache, and destruction that usually comes with doing it “our” way, rather he wants us to experience the life full of purpose, peace, freedom, joy, and love that he designed us to have.
We tend to think he wants and asks so much more of us, but all he really wants is for us to just believe him. Not say we do and have our actions say differently. In fact, I think saying we believe him yet not acting like we do communicates even more disrespect and a lack of love to him than if we’d just be up front and honest with him about our doubt. If we were honest, we could at least be in a place to ask him to help us in our unbelief which I think he’s willing to do. I think He’s more concerned about getting us to a place of belief than he is about condemning us for our unbelief and disobedience.
So, how do we get to a place of believing him? I think we probably won’t really believe him unless we take the time to really get to know him. And as we take the time to hang out and communicate with him, I think we’ll find that he’s worth knowing, he’s telling the truth, and we actually believe him enough to follow him.
