Dr. Dan Hayden •
“I’ll believe it when I see it!” You know – seeing is believing! Well, believing is a lot more than seeing. I’ve seen Santa Claus, but I sure don’t believe in Santa Claus.
In John 3:16 the Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life.” “Believes”— that’s an important word. You see, you could have eternal life. But unless you believe, it won’t happen.
The Apostle John makes an important distinction with regard to what this word “believe” means. In John 2:23, He says, “…many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did.” The people were impressed with the miracles, so they believed in Him. But in verse 24, it goes on to say, “But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew what was in them.” “Commit Himself” is the same Greek word translated “believe” in the previous verse. In other words, they believed in Him; but He didn’t believe in them. Why? Because, their belief was only surface.
So you see you can believe with your head, and at the same time not believe with your heart. You can believe in your head that Jesus is a great person, but He won’t believe in you unless your belief includes trusting Him with your heart— trusting Him to save you from your sin. “Whosoever believes…”
Hey—when you say you believe in Jesus, is your heart in it?”