When Jesus appeared to the disciples in the room after His ressurection. They were all astonished that He came and "stood among them". A sense of horror filled each disciple which would have been an appropriate response to what they were witnessing. But in His mercy, Jesus invited them to touch Him, so they could be certain their eyes weren't failing them. This was Jesus standing here. Then they knew...everything He said would happen has now taken place. He's alive! But then He said something that puts me facedown as I read it even a couple of millenia later..."Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (Jn 20:29) I'm floored because He's talking about all those who would come after this group in the room behind locked doors. Those who've never laid eyes on Him as a man walking the planet...as it's Creator...the Son of God...He's talking about me...and you. Do you see it? Belief. That's what this is all about. The whole of life is lived to grasp what Jesus says in His Word and carving out a life of faith because we believe...really believe. So much so that every effort..every breath...every moment is leveraged for God's glory (so, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I Cor. 10:31). And this brings me to the point of this blog. The reason His Word is so precious to us is because it's how we know Him. It's how we come to believe. And when we believe, we'll want to know more and He gives us more and we believe more, until one day when the curtain is drawn on our time here on earth and we see Jesus face to face. The question is: Will I be able to say, "Jesus for the first time I'm seeing You, but before that...I believed." I want you to read Hebrews 4:11-13 and we'll talk about it tomorrow... but for now think about this verse, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." I Jn 5:13. See you in the morning.