We are living at a time when there is growing skepticism concerning the Lord. People nowadays are no longer as prayerful as their forefathers, nor do they readily believe in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is in spite of the fact that there is a manifold increase in knowledge and that people today are more learned. As far as the Lord Jesus Christ is concerned, this is the result of them not acting out their faith. He said, “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:17). The reason why people are skeptical is that they do not actually act out what God wants them to do. They keep piling up knowledge in their heads and this causes them to become proud and self-confident. No wonder the apostle Paul said, “We know that we all possess knowledge. But knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1).
Many become skeptics because they choose to be spectators on the sidelines, rather than actually living out what the Scriptures says. But what is God’s will for us? When the disciples asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:28-29). Believing is not just a state of the mind. Rather, it is having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and actually acting out such faith. One becomes a believer when he follows the Lord and obeys his commands. It is only in doing the will of God that skepticism will go, for we can actually see and experience the results.
It is doubt that will spoil all that God has in store for us to enjoy. Jesus said, “Have faith in God…truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them” (Mark 11:22-23). This is the same doubt that caused Peter not to complete his walk on the water towards Jesus. While he initially had faith when Jesus asked him to walk on water, doubt came when he saw the wind and the waves. It was at that juncture that he started to sink. Jesus rebuked him, saying, “You of little faith. Why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31). We need to develop complete faith in the Lord Jesus. It is only then that we can move mountains or walk on water.
An easy way to identify skeptics is to see how they obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are expected not only to confess their belief, but to act out the commands of the Lord. Those who refuse to act them out are not true believers. They have doubts about him and thus, decide not to follow him. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Just like sheep, we follow the Lord Jesus Christ for our own good. There are many voices around, but we should be able to discern and know the voice of our Lord. Surely, we shall get acquainted with him through our reading of the Bible. We shall recognize his voice and we will gladly follow.
As we grow in our knowledge of the Lord, we need to grow in our trust in him. Doing the will of God is obeying his commands. When Jesus was urged to have something to eat, he said to his disciples, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:32-34). Therefore, in like manner, let us feast on the Word and excel in obedience. It is not right that we do not translate our knowledge of the Word of God into action. A true believer is one who fully trusts in the Lord and obeys his commands, even if it requires a lot of sacrifices. To refuse to obey makes us unbelievers. Friends, let us choose today to do God’s will and experience all the blessings that he has in store for us. We will never appreciate the power of the Word of God unless we actually live it. Let us not be counted as one of the skeptics and thus, miss the blessing. Hallelujah!
