“But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him. –  Hebrews 11:6, NKJV

When she came to pick him from school, Marvin’s mother found him crying bitterly. “What’s the matter my dear?” She inquired as she slumped down to look in his teary face.

“The children,” he sobbed as he pointed to his classroom, “they’ve been saying that I don’t have a brain and I think they are probably right. Why mum?”

Much as she tried, Marvin’s mum found it hard to convince her little boy that he actually had a physical brain inside his head, like everyone else.

Marvin asked his mum if he could see and touch his brain so he could be sure that indeed he had one.

“No darling,” she assured him. “No one can touch his own brain.”

It’s a funny story but many people are like little Marvin when it comes to relating with God.

Personally, I’ve debated with so-called ‘atheists’ who claim that God does not exist.

“No one has ever seen God and there is no scientific evidence that proves that God exists,” one argued.

I always tell people that denying the existence of God is akin to a baby denying the existence of the Internet.

In Psalm 14:1, the Psalmist says; “The fool says in his heart that there is no God.”

Like Marvin who definitely couldn’t be alive if he didn’t have a brain, an atheist claims that God does not exist; completely oblivious of the reality that his being alive is sufficient proof of God’s existence.

That’s why the Bible calls such a person a “fool.”

Among the Jews, God’s most revered name is ‘Jehovah,’ so much that no one was supposed to mention it. It means ‘I am’ or ‘the God who is.’

In our reflection today, faith is singled out as the most important factor for a life that is pleasing to God.

Without faith it is impossible to live a life that is pleasing to God.

To relate with human beings, God only responds to faith, which is what you need to believe that He exists.

Among the Jews, God’s most revered name is ‘Jehovah,’ so much that no one was supposed to mention it. It means ‘I am’ or ‘the God who is.’

When Moses asked God to tell him what he would say to those who ask him the name of the God who had sent him, God told Moses to tell them that “I AM” had sent him. (Exodus 3:13-14)

That’s why our Lord Jesus greatly riled the conservative Jews when He described Himself as “I am.” (John 8:58)

Our meditation today states that i order to be pleasing to God, “you must believe that He is and that He is rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

That implies that seeking after and responding to God must be an act of faith; your senses, feelings and emotions have absolutely nothing to do with it. 

If we want to live a life that is pleasing to God, we must keep the emotions and feelings completely out of our relationship with Him.

We don’t have to feel anything as proof of God’s presence or work in our lives. Because He is, we believe that He is; because He is therefore we are.

Our faith is the evidence of His existence and the proof that He’s working.

So rather than keeping on wondering if indeed He’s with you, will you choose to please Him through your faith in Him today?

Today, dare to believe that “He is….and He is…”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I believe that you are the Great I am. You are the reason I am, for in you I live and move and have my being. Amen.