On Belief by Horizons Fellow Jonathan Buchinsky ('21)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly - Jesus speaking to the Jews. 1
I came across this verse a few years ago and it quickly captivated me. Deep down I’ve always known that Jesus provides this abundant life, but I’ve also noticed that many of my actions don’t reflect that belief. Anytime I forget that God’s plans are perfect and I flee from His hand in my life, deep down it is because I believe that my initiative, my actions, my agency are sufficient to guarantee this abundant life on my own. Not only is this ultimately fruitless as moments of hedonism leave me unfulfilled, but also these thoughts cheapen the sacrifice of the cross. Whether I accept this reality or not, my attempt to ensure the abundant life for myself is, at its core, a statement that I don’t trust that Jesus’s perfect sacrifice is sufficient. Who am I to make this foolish claim?
Thank goodness that the cross covers all. “I am with you always, to the end of the age” is the promise, and the death and resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of that promise. 2
So what does that mean? Where is this abundant life? John 3:16 promises it for “whoever believes in him.” Belief in the omnipotence and perfect nature of God is the foundation upon which all else rests. However, even the demons believe this. Even the evil forces in the spiritual realm recognize the Lordship of God. James the brother of Jesus writes “Even the demons believe—and shudder!”3 I have no interest in experiencing faith in the same way that the Devil does. Therefore it seems to follow that I am called to more as a Christian. Where this belief leads then is the question.
When Jesus reveals himself as the Son of Man to the blind man in John 9, the man’s actions were striking. “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.”4 Belief leads to worship, and in the Bible that ranges from Job shaving his head and tearing his robe, King David dancing in the streets, and incredible other examples of expressive, verbal, and other acts of thankfulness for our Heavenly Father. 5,6
In my life, I have felt more and more convicted to bring worship into the mundane. I am inspired by Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century French Monk whose letters and conversations were compiled into a great little book titled The Practice of the Presence of God. He believed that “our only business was to love and delight ourselves in God” and to this end, he thought that “it was a great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times.”7,8 His richest times with the Lord occurred while washing dishes at the monastery — inviting God into his time of service to others. Similarly, I wonder how I can offer my current and future occupations, my relational times with others, my meals, exercise, rest, travel, and all the rest of it up to the Lord as worship. I can trust God to use these things for my good and His glory, and I trust in His eternal grace to fill in the cracks of my unbelief, and to bring the abundant life that only He can provide.
John 10:10 ESV
Matthew 28:20 ESV
James 2:19b ESV
John 9:38 ESV
Job 1:20 ESV
2 Samuel 6:14 ESV
The Practice of the Presence of God p. 21
The Practice of the Presence of God p. 26