Question: It doesn’t really matter what I believe, does it? Just as long as my belief helps me, that’s what matters, right?Answer: Wrong! That type of thinking presupposes there is nothing absolutely true. It sees the act of believing as all that is important, without regard to the content. This view would be ludicrous in any other area of life. Could you get away with saying, “It doesn’t matter what I believe about where I live, just as long as I live somewhere?” If you believe that you live somewhere other than what is true, you will not get home very often. In the physical world, if someone’s beliefs do not line up with reality, we question whether they are psychotic, hallucinating, or just have a bad memory. When we are speaking about the unseen spiritual world, the value of truth is no less important.Belief itself does not create truth as some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. I could believe my wife’s 2006 Altima is a 2014 Cadillac SRX, but it just ain’t so. Absolute truth is as it is. My perspective may change, but absolute truth does not change, regardless of who is perceiving it, or when. The 2006 Altima is a 2006 Altima whether I believe it or not. It is up to us to find out what is true so we believe accurately.The existence of absolute truth does not depend upon someone believing it. Truth is absolute regardless of the level of my evidence or belief. Do you need absolute evidence to believe in absolute truth? No; I can believe based on the best evidence I do have. We do this every day as we learn new things. Learning involves moving from false belief to true belief, based on evidence. Christians have chosen to believe the Bible because it is solid evidence, and best explains reality as we perceive it. The scriptures emphasize the object of our belief far more than the size of our belief. When it comes to Jesus Christ, we must decide whether He was accurately teaching reality when He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). He prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in thy truth; Thy word is truth” (John 17:7). In these two statements, Jesus claimed we could trust Him, and we could trust the Word of God as truth. The issue we must decide, is whether we will trust Him and believe His Word. He either accurately reflects reality or He does not. It does matter what we believe, and it is not enough to “just believe”. Jesus said, “…everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). What we believe about Jesus and whether we believe in Jesus, has major consequences.Thanks for reading and have a great week.Pastor Linzy Slayden, Friendship Baptist Church, Owasso, Oklahoma
