I Have Decided

Mel and I hosted our first connect group gathering of 2014 in our new home this week. It was a great night. We shared food and drink and we talked about our New Year’s Resolutions (or whatever you want to call them).

The one common denominator with all of us was a resolution to read the Bible more effectively this year. For some, that meant beginning to read it daily, for others that meant deeper study, and for others it meant trying new methods and introducing a bit of creativity into their Bible reading to help them connect with it more.

We talked about the importance of deciding to follow Jesus in the midst of our decisions about New Year’s Resolutions, reflecting on the series we’ve just finished in church: “I Have Decided”.

Then I came across this passage in Acts:

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
– Acts 11:21

And it struck me… The belief that God requires is not mere talk. It’s not just saying you believe, or even doing some things believers do. Perhaps it’s not enough just to believe… perhaps when the Bible says believe, it’s talking about a certain type of belief.

It says that “a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” They didn’t just believe and give lip service to that belief. The belief they had proved itself in the fact that they turned to the Lord.

The Bible says that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17), and perhaps that’s what Luke meant when he wrote this in Acts. At the start of 2014, perhaps you want to consider how your belief, your faith, is showing itself to be real faith.

– Dave