“8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:8-9 (ESV)
Joy in belief of our Lord Jesus Christ. I do not have to see Him to love Him. I do have to see Him to believe in Him. I only have to love and believe in Him. With that, I will be filled with joy. With that love and belief, I have received my salvation. With that love and belief I will receive my reward in heaven.
To often we find ourselves in the mode of “I have to see to believe” and in reality, that is not true. Even while Jesus was in this world, there were those that felt they needed to see to believe. Take the apostle Thomas. He needed to see Jesus for himself to believe that He did rise from the dead.
Jesus does not need to be revealed to me physically for me to believe. I only need to believe that He is real and accept the salvation He has provided for me through His death and resurrection. I do not need to see Him to love Him and do not need to see Him to believe.
My belief reveals my joy. My joy allows me to accept. Jesus lived in this world to experience that which we experience. Jesus died in this world to experience that which we experience. He accepted that death to be the example for us in this world. Jesus rose again to demonstrate that He rules over this world with God. It is in Him that I believe and that belief leads to the joy of knowing all that He is and provides for me in this world and in my home to come, heaven.
I do not need to see Him to love Him. I do not need to see Him to believe in Him. I only need to love and believe to experience the joy He provides.
Where are you looking to find your joy? Are you needing to see to believe? What if you just accepted that you do not need to see and only need to love and believe to experience the joy of the LORD?
Trevor's Thoughts 