Lighthouse Keeper

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29)

The main (perhaps the only) reason I believe in the person of Jesus as God in flesh (John 1:14) is because…it’s true. 

People make up all sorts of stories about religion as a crutch and a political model. Then they go into religion creating wars (people create wars not religion) all because they are terrified that if they look into the claims of Jesus, they might actually be true. 

Often people will say to me things like:

“That’s nice that you have that”

“It’s a comfort isn’t it?”

“I don’t have that sort of imagination”

“I’ve always believed in spiritual things but I’m not into organised religion.”

When I take antibiotics to treat a skin infection it’s not because I need a crutch or a comfort or a mythological story. The empirical evidence is clear that antibiotics will heal my skin infection. Taking antibiotics doesn’t require a whole bunch of faith and it certainly doesn’t require make-believe. It doesn’t make me a weak person because I seek medical attention or ask a trained expert for help.  You could argue that it’s going into the unseen but the real gap is between the people who have looked into and understand how antibiotics work and those who haven’t. Anti-intellectualism is rampant online with everyone claiming to have the secret formula or the natural therapy or the myth-busting solution. Don’t be led astray. 

Staying on the skin theme, Jesus invites Thomas in the Book of John to “reach out your hand and put in my side” (John 2-:27). You can’t touch a ghost or a spirit and here Jesus is demonstrating the resurrection body that proves he overcame death.  When Thomas doubted, he wasn’t told by Jesus to use his imagination or even to show faith; he was told to look at the evidence and then to believe based on the evidence. 

Christians who need constant rollercoaster “presence of God” meetings are really wrestling with doubt like Thomas. The antidote for doubt is not more hyped up God-flavoured meetings. The answer is to sit quietly with God and examine the evidence. 

Did the events of the Bible really happen? What if they are true and what does that mean for humans and my life here? If Jesus is who he says he is then there must be a heaven. I wonder if that’s a real place?

Have the courage to look into the claims of the Bible and Jesus so that you’re not building your life on the wrong foundation. 

The Bible is not a book of horoscopes, it is the living word of God that teaches and encourages us about God and who He is so we can get to know him more. During my search in my early 20’s I also found Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ” to be really enlightening as well as CS Lewis “Mere Christianity”, and many others. 

Seek, explore, touch the scars. Look at the empirical evidence and it will open the door to a new life of freedom and truth.