Test of faith

What is faith?  I mentioned this morning about a story I once heard about the law of the pendulum.   It is about a college student taking a class in which each student must make a dramatic presentation about an assigned topic.  His topic was the pendulum.  On the day of his presentation he stood before the class to explain the law of the pendulum.  Simply stated, the highest point a pendulum will swing back to is never higher than its starting point. 

He demonstrated this by affixing a string to the top of the blackboard.  At the other end was a ball of chalk.  He pulled the string up, released it and as it swung through its arc, it drew a line on the board.  As it returned to the point of release, it was evident the ball did not go any higher.  The class applauded and the professor stepped up to congratulate the student on a fine presentation.  But, the student replied, “There’s more”, and turning to the professor, said, “And I will need your help.” 

Turning to the class once more, he asked them the law of the pendulum.  Then he helped the professor onto a table situated at the front of the room.  At that point he lowered a large ball attached to the girder in the ceiling by a chain.  Asking the professor once more for the law of the pendulum, he then asked, “And do you believe it, have faith in it?”  The professor replied, “Well of course.  You have proven it.” 

Then the student pulled the ball back just shy of the professor’s nose and released it to swing across the room to the other end of the arc.  Once there, the ball began its journey back to its starting point, just shy of the professor’s nose.  Just before the ball reached the top of the arc, the professor dove off the table and chair and onto the floor.  The student turned to the class and asks, “Does he believe — have faith in the law of the pendulum?”  

Many times it isn’t until our faith or belief is put to the test, put under pressure, squeezed in extraordinary ways that whether we trust, believe or have faith is exposed.  But it isn’t until then that we truly know if we have faith that has changed us from who we were without it, to the person we are today.  In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said , “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” This requires a faith in Christ that changes everything about a person.  Will you trust and follow Christ?

Pressing on…

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor