Devotion
By Rev. Neal Mathias
s Christians, we sometimes describe ourselves as those who “have faith in Jesus Christ.” Faith and Christian belief are synonymous. Faith is in- tegral to what it is to be a Christian. That being the case, how strong do you consider your faith to be? Most Christians struggle with a sense of the meagerness of their faith. We sense this because it is actually true. We do not have the fullness of faith in the Lord that he deserves and is worthy of having from us. faith. The account, in chapter 17, tells us that Jesus’ disciples have unsuccess- fully tried to relieve a tormented child of his seizures. Their prayers have been ineffectual in delivering the boy from a demon. But Jesus, in response to the father’s pleas, succeeds. The narrative picks up here:
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Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:19-20) Jesus describes a faith which is like a grain of mustard seed – described else-
where as the smallest of seeds. So what is Jesus saying? He is acknowledging that the faith of his disciples is small. It is a reality he knew about his disciples then. It is a reality he knows about us now. It is true – our faith is small. we do have faith. It is not “no faith: - it is mustard seed-sized faith – but it is faith. There is encouragement here. Rather than focusing on our lack of faith – which is easy to do – we should be thankful and rejoice in the measure of faith God has given us. He has given Christians a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). It is a gift from him (Ephesians 2:8). We should be grateful. There is another point, though, to what Jesus said – a point of greater impor- tance. What does He say this mustard seed-sized faith can do? Move mountains! In spite of the meagerness and weakness of our faith, God still does great things
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in response to it! God’s greatness and the greatness of His work far exceed any measure of faith we might pos- sess. It is not dependent on the “size” of our faith.
Can you think of the times and set- tings in which the Lord’s work and accomplishments have far exceeded any faith and expectations we might have had? This seems to be what Paul has in mind as he writes, “Now to him who is able to do far more abun- dantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work with- in us” (Ephesians 3:20). In the end, there is an interesting twist to all of this. What happens when we see the Lord accomplish great things in response to what we know has been meager faith? Our faith and worship of God increase! Let us rejoice in the gift of faith God has given. Let us rejoice and adore Him as the One whose work far ex- ceeds that measure of faith.
Rev. Neal Mathias is a Retired ARP Minister in Catawba Presbytery.
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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