May 19, 2021
There are casual believers. Convenient believers. But there is a third type of believer – and, honestly, this is what Jesus is calling you to be. And that is …
Committed in every way. This is the lifestyle of following Jesus. It’s when I say, “I’m all in.” And my heart’s cry becomes, “Not my will; Your will be done in my life, Lord Jesus. My life’s goal is to bring glory to Your Name and joy to Your heart.”
And let me just say it. My goal is turn you into this kind of believer. If you’re not sure you’re all the way there yet, I’m going to tell you something you probably never heard before. For many of us, the journey starts with doubts.
Let me show you. For this first session of Doubters Anonymous, let me show you a man who is world famous for his doubts: Doubting Thomas. In the beginning, from Day One, Thomas bought into the whole Jesus-thing. He left his business. He left his home. He left everything. He became one of the disciples and traveled everywhere with Jesus. For three years, he never left His side.
So, when Jesus died on the cross, Thomas lost it. Thomas had a psychological melt down. If you read the Gospels carefully, you discover that after the death of Jesus, all the other disciples gathered together. Not Thomas. Thomas was A.W.O.L. For seven days, Thomas was missing in action. No one could find him. I am going to argue that he was completely destroyed – devastated – because with everything in him, he wanted to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. But he couldn’t believe in a dead Messiah. So, his world fell apart.
Then Thomas uttered some words that would forever brand him as “Doubting Thomas.” To this day – “Doubting Thomas.” But I’m going to show you today that if you struggle with doubts, you can still become one of the greatest people of faith you would ever imagine.
The Road to Committed Belief
The road to committed belief often starts with …
• Doubts.
In John, Chapter 20, the disciples locate Thomas and they say, “We’ve seen Jesus! We’ve talked to Him! He’s alive!” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, (where the spear pierced his heart) I will not believe it.” (John 20:25)
What was he saying? “I have to know for myself. If He is risen from dead, that changes everything I know about life. Everything. If He’s dead, I’ve got no hope at all. We’re just playing church.”
That’s where some of you are right now. You’ve got doubts and that’s okay. Since when have hard questions been bad? Even Jesus on the cross cried out a hard question: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”
I’m going to tell you what. God may allow you to have some doubts so you will seek Him. And when you find Him, like Thomas, you’re going to say, “This changes everything. This changes the way I see my whole world.”