John 6:26

"Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" John 6:26

Call me a "Doubting Thomas" if you want, but there are just some things I won't believe until I see them. Oh, I believe man walked on the moon, I saw the television broadcast as they did it. And I believe they discovered the Titanic, I saw the movie. (Just joking!) But there are things that I don't believe easily. The first time I heard about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center, I doubted. Who would believe any human could inflict such a thing on another human? There are just some things that I have to see or hear for myself to believe them.

That leads me to a question: why do we believe in Jesus? I know a lot of people who believes in Him because He has done something wonderful in their lives. He may have saved their marriage, or healed a child, or redeemed them from financial ruin. Those are all good reasons to believe in Jesus, at least to cause us to begin to believe. But, trust me, those are not reason enough to keep us believing. Jesus told His followers that they believed in Him because they ate the bread Jesus multiplied, not because He is the Son of God. Of course they did not have that knowledge yet, but He had been implying such a thing for months before this event. He continues telling them to seek imperishable bread, that which will not get moldy, stale, and dry. He wants them to believe in Him because He is.

"He is what?" you may ask. He is the Son of God. He is the Redeemer for which we have all been waiting. He is the Sacrificial Lamb that has taken away all of our sins. All of these and more, Jesus wants us to accept. And when we do, we will find that our belief, our Faith, is not dependent upon what we have seen, but what we know, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And once we know that beyond the shadow of a doubt, we will never have to fear falling away from our relationship with Him. Why? Our Faith will be from the heart, not the head. It will not depend upon things that can be seen, felt, tasted, smelled, or heard. It will not be founded upon the things of this world, but upon the Solid Rock, the same Rock that Jesus built the Church upon, the knowledge that Jesus is God.

Don't get me wrong; we often need the miracles to cause us to believe in the beginning. It is just that we can't stay there. We need to move up to the next level and develop a personal relationship with the Son of God. That is when we begin to show spiritual maturity. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.