Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Mike Caton

John 10:42, “And in that place many believed in Jesus.”

Who are the many in this place? Maybe some of them had come with Jesus from Jerusalem, but more than likely they are the ones who are already there, who live there, who remember John the Baptist being so busy in their area. More than likely, many of them have been baptized by John. But there can be no doubt that these people had heard about what Jesus had been doing; the teaching, the miracles, the good deeds, the confrontations with the religious leaders. And now they have an opportunity to see and hear him for themselves.

And many believed. The idea behind belief is more powerful than we might think. When we use the world believe today, it seems to have been watered down, to indicated things that we might accept, even though we have not really thought about them, things that we might take for granted, things we have always heard and though we have not really considered them we take them to be true. In our minds, believing something is not a big deal. But in a Biblical concept, there is much more to it. It means you have committed yourself to something, entrusted yourself to something, it means you are willing to take your stand here, even if it means it is your last stand. It means you will invest yourself in this belief; gladly put your time, money, energy, effort into both learning more and advancing this cause. It is not simply an un-thought-about agreement, it is a thing you will stake your life, even your eternity on. This does not mean we have to learn all about a thing before we believe it, but it does mean we want to find out more, to learn and therefore apply more of this to our lives. And that is what many of those folks did.

But what about us this morning. We need to examine our faith, our belief, our commitment to the Lord. We need to make sure we are serious and committed to all we can learn and do about God. We need to honor him in all we do, say and think. We need to change our ways, repent and conform to his standard. And this is a day by day, often an hour by hour, commitment. This is what God wants.

Father, help me truly believe. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works part time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

READ ABOUT COMMUNITY NEWS AND EVENTS HERE.

ALSO OF INTEREST:

Weekly Devotion – John 10:40

Reflections by the Sea: Balance