Meditation VI -- Belief

"having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you."

"these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name"

Perhaps because Jesus was a teacher and because he continues to teach us, we think of belief as something that can be learned as one learns a formula or a process. Yet life itself instructs us that this is not so. Even math can get messy, but we are (at least I am) so hard headed and hard hearted as to expect belief to be simple where it is complicated and difficult where it is simple.

We forget the role of grace in belief. Paul prayed for the Ephesians, not that they learn their Sunday School lessons, but that their spiritual eyes be opened to the hope of God. John's Gospel tells us that the story of Jesus has been told that we might believe not only "that Jesus is the Christ" -- a fact we are given no logical progression for -- but also that we "may have life in his name."

What a magnificent leap! I confess there are concepts which are not fully clear to me. But I have hope I did not once have. I have life I could not otherwise attain or even aspire toward, believing in Jesus. This I can testify to.