Plenty of Faith

January 18, 2008

Plenty of Faith

"The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.'
'If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, the Lord said, you can say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it will obey you.'"
Luke 7: 5-6 HCSB

It seems to me we continue to make the same mistake when it comes to understanding "faith." I think in the Scripture above we have an instance where the Lord actually rebuked the apostles for not recognizing that it was not the size of their faith that counted, it was instead its life.

The mustard seed is very small, yet because its life is in its seed, it will when planted, respond to the elements and produce more mustard seeds. Its nature is life. It's size is determined by the seed's DNA. Its effectiveness has nothing to do with how big it is.

"For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one." Romans 12:3 HCSB

Since Greek does not have an indefinite article the "a" measure of faith probably should be "the" measure of faith. When we accepted our Lord as our Savior the Father place the "seed" of His life in us -- He calls it faith. It is His life and His DNA. It is the ability to trust Him in all aspects of our lives and to follow His leading as He instructions. It contains all the "God Life" one needs to be obedient to and in all that is asked. Our faith is not lacking.

However, we do not know this, so instead of reading the Word, we read everything else. Instead of trusting our Lord, we trust our family,friends, etc.... Instead of spending time with Him in communication, we watch TV or surf the net, or.... you fill in the blank. Then we think our "faith" is weak. No there is nothing weak about the life in the seed. However, we must trust the seed and choose to be the good soil for that seed.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6 HCSB

There is so little done in faith -- that is because we choose another life source. That other source always disappoints. Yet we keep at it and pray for an increase in faith. How our Father must weep and feel helpless to help us. He has already told us. Yet we do not hear and we do not know.