McCobb is always telling me to have faith. But what is faith? In the Bible, perhaps the supreme reference, defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. (Hebrews 11.1 KJV)

Faith is believing there is more than what we see, hear and taste. Faith is belief not yet proven. Faith can also be the biggest lie ever told. Believing something is true doesn’t make it so.

Unfortunately people sometimes prefer to believe the untruth over fact. I don’t consider that to be faith.

For instance, it requires faith to believe in God. There is no proof, no method of measuring His presence. But I believe in God, my faith being the evidence of his existence.

My faith does not extend to the myriad of rules, regulations and traditions that have become synonymous with belief in a higher power. It baffles me as to how one could read the Bible, a book based on faith and forgiveness, and then forge a concrete and unforgiving religion around ‘the word of God’.

Incidentally the Bible is not the ‘word of God’.

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.(KJV)

John 1:14 – And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.(KJV)

Getting back to faith vs. tradition:

Mark 7:13 – thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that. (NIV)

The Bible is not a rule book but a how-to manual on life. When a person or group starts using it as a bludgeon to force others to conform they render it useless. When the Bible is used as intended – as a source of hope, inspiration and faith – it’s true value is realized.

Blindly following a religion or coercing others to do the same takes faith out of the equation. We become automatons, blindly stumbling around in the dark without a clue as to why.

Blind faith makes about as much sense as jumbo shrimp. Knowledge comes first, then understanding, then awareness, then faith. Faith is the supreme state of man, hard to achieve but worth striving for.

Faith is the ability to see and understand the things hoped for and not seen. And something I’m still working on.

Tags: bible, faith, forgiveness, knowledge, truth, understand, understanding