Bible Thoughts

November 26, 2000

The Lord and his disciples had passed by a fig tree that had no fruit. From a distance it appeared to be productive but, upon approaching it, there was no fruit. Jesus determined that a fruitless tree encumbered the ground and stated there would be no more fruit on it. Later, they passed by the fig tree and found it withered. Christ then stated, "Have faith in God"(Mark 11:22).

The route to productive service as a Christian is to have faith in God. Without that faith, it is impossible to be well-pleasing to God(Hebrews 11:6). In the absence of a strong belief in the Lord and His word, one cannot bear the fruit that Jesus expects of a disciple. A person's faith will wither when it is not nurtured and fed.

Each disciple must possess a faith that is "in God." Not a faith in humanity, not a faith in kinsmen, not a faith in a friend, not a faith in the preacher, or any other man, institution or human device(all of these are human and will cause disappointment). Faith that saves is a faith in the Creator of the universe. The entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews dwells on that point. Those who pleased God in the Old Testament did so by faith in the Almighty. Those who pleased God during the days of the apostles were acting by faith in Jesus Christ. Those who please God at present will place their faith in the Lord and His word. Nothing else can take the place of such trust.

Over the years, this writer has observed that many brethren misplace their faith. Such rests, not in Jesus Christ and His word, but in matters and relationships in this life. When they face disappointments, sorrows, or adversities, they give up the paths of righteousness and walk away from the Lord and His kingdom. Their faith withers! When the Christian places his/her faith in God, any adversity that is faced can be overcome. However unpleasant an experience, the faithful know that faith is what will overcome the adversity. Since the disciple's trust is in God, any barrier can be overcome and any problem can be solved. Knowing the Lord is with the saint, facing difficulties provides an opportunity to overcome anything standing in the way of one's salvation. Seek the Lord and His kingdom first and one's faith and strength will grow.

Sadly, there are those who place their faith in humans, instead of God. When some mortal disappoints such a person, or someone does not act as they believe one should, they cease to be faithful to the Lord. Some call that "quitting the church." In reality, it is quitting the Lord! Never let a human, however great one may appear or how much you thought of the person, stand between you and God. Put your faith in God, not men. Men will disappoint, God does not.

It is unfortunate there are those who put their faith in material possessions. While they are prospering and enjoying the things of this life, confidence in the world and what it offers will overtake some. In the pursuit of riches, they neglect their responsibilities to God, forgetting that not one single penny could they possess without the help of the divine Creator. The rich man did not take it with him; Lazarus took his faith and rested in Abraham's bosom. The rich man was in torment; Lazarus was being comforted. When the Lord promised us those things that we need, he prefaced it by stating that we "seek the kingdom first." If you lost all your worldly goods, would you still have faith in God?

Faith in oneself will eventually wither and die. Whatever one's accomplishments may be; whatever honors one may receive; whatever reputation one may have in this life, none of these can replace the faith that prepares one for eternity. When one stands before God, whatever earthly rewards one may have had, they are worth nothing when one is not prepared to stand before the great judge of mankind. The accomplishments of this life are exactly what is implied: having to do with this life. Because one is energetic, wise, ambitious, successful, and hundreds of other superlatives, that does not mean he will be prepared for heaven. The poor and despised man, in his humility and sacrifices for the Lord, will be able to hear, "enter into the joy of thy Lord." One's successes in this life will not be the measure used to decide who enters into heaven.

With the proper kind of faith, one can overcome the many sorrows and disappointments of a human. Whatever may occur in the life of a disciple, however sad and however hurtful, can be(and will be) an opportunity to grow stronger in the Lord and produce a stronger faith.

Where is your faith? In God or in men?

A psalm written by David expresses his feelings about the Lord. If we go back to the beginning life of David, we will read that his profession was a shepherd and we see how he cared for his father's sheep.

A story has been told, a story about this shepherd and how he loved and cared for his sheep. He lived on the open plains with his sheep, for that was the only way he could truly protect them. One dark cold night he was sitting by his fire trying to keep warm, huddled under his blanket. Even though he was cold he knew where the sheep were and he knew he had to make sure that they were all doing all right. He got up from his bed and left the warmth of his fire and walked over to where the sheep were. They all seemed fine, huddled together for warmth, but then he noticed that one was missing from the flock(just one sheep). He hurried back to camp, got his shepherds crook and set off in the cold darkness, searching for this one lost sheep. He starts off towards the valley for that is where they were feeding earlier on, but he couldn’t find him there so he heads off to the hills hoping that he can get to it before it falls prey to some hungry animal or dies from the cold. He climbs the sharp dangerous hill calling out the sheep’s name, for he knows them all by name. He calls and he calls but still there is nothing. He does not give up though. And then in the distance he hears it calling back to him, calling for help. The shepherd rejoices for he found his lost sheep.

The Lord is our shepherd, and we are his sheep. He looks after us because we can’t do it for ourselves, and because he loves us. He know us by name, and no matter how far we may get lost he will always set out to find us again. But just like the story goes he will only help us if we let him; he will only help us if we call out to him.-Vaughn Botha