I happen to catch The Bible series last night on the History channel and towards the end of the movie, they showed Thomas and how he doubted that Jesus had returned and it got me thinking if I was a Doubting Thomas.
John 20:24-29
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 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.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Do you find yourself questioning things, especially as it pertains to God? I have. And there might be times that I still do? But, I know that I doubt less than I did. I think that it is part of growing older and dealing with life situations and how my faith has increased.
But I am challenging myself to be less of a Doubting Thomas and more of a believer, and not just for myself, but more importantly for my kids. I want them to look at me as they grow older and see how I respond and how I have faith. Faith is a hard thing, and like Thomas, it takes seeing to believe and there are times in life, that you can not always see things to know that they are real or that they will come to be.
So in this time of the Christmas season, a time where little children show us that they have faith in Santa Claus and the birth of Jesus, I hope to cast aside my doubts and believe more and take more leaps of faith.