| The Best Things in Life |
Chapter 12 |
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What is there in the gospel of Christ that gives us authority to say, “Let not your heart be troubled”? The first thing Jesus bade his disciples do was to believe – “Believe in God, believe also in me.” Thus far they had believed. Jesus had taught them a new name for God. They were to call him Father. He used almost no other name for God. The word “father” is a great treasure house of love thoughts. It told the disciples of the minute thought and care of God, extending to the smallest events of their lives. It told them of goodness that never failed. It was a great lesson they had been learning – to think of God as their Father. In the shock of the last terrible days, however, there was danger that they would lose their faith. Yet Jesus said that dark hour: “Believe in God. Let nothing take away from you your faith in God as your Father.”
Then he said further, “Believe also in me.” They had accepted Jesus as their Messiah. They believed that he had come to be the world’s Redeemer. Now at the announcement that he was to die at the hands of his enemies, there was danger that they should lose their faith in him. If he died in defeat, what would become of his claim and their hope that he would redeem his people? To save them from their loss of faith, he exhorted them to continue to believe. “Believe in God, believe also in me.”
We are always in danger of losing our faith in times of trouble. Many people are heard asking such questions as “How can God be a God of love, and suffer me to be so bereft, so stripped of good? Where now are the promises of blessing which are made so constantly in the Scriptures? Has God forgotten to be gracious?” To such questions the answer is, “Believe in God, believe also in me.” Let nothing disturb your faith. Though it seems that love has failed, that God has forgotten you, that Christ is no longer your friend, still believe; believe in God, believe also in Jesus Christ.
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