It has been a while since my last post and I do apologize to those (if any) who are following these bloggings.
Between the new puppy and the litter of kittens I am fostering at the moment, I have had some very hectic mornings. I thought I would stop today to share about something I was reading yesterday, which I find very valuable at least in looking back.
I was reading a character study of Caleb in The Life Application Bible. Caleb was among the men chosen to go into the promise land and see it prior to the Israelites attempting to enter. They found that it was “flowing with milk and honey” and Caleb along with one lone compatriot called on Israel to enter and take the land. The majority of the party however, did not. They were afraid of the “giants” who lived there.
What really struck me was the author’s comments about how various people came to their fear. The party who entered the land came by it first hand from seeing the people. Israel however, came to their fear secondhand by believing what the majority of those reporting said.
As I pondered this, I was reminded how much of what I have practiced in my life has been based on my own indoctrination of what others believed...what I got secondhand. When I decided to be a Christian at age 10, I did so not out of education or encouragement, but as a result of my own curiosity and study…I came to this decision firsthand. That’s why I have clung to my faith even after some who would share it rejected me.
After becoming a Christian and sharing this with my family, I was encouraged to join the church and my indoctrination began. I don’t believe religious education is a bad thing, but I do believe that in most respects it is handled as a means to teach our beliefs rather than help people discover their own. Out of a desire to learn and grow, I don’t think this thought ever crossed my mind more than once or twice. Most of what I learned in the church came as a result of someone else’s understanding of God (secondhand) and not my own study or experience. When I felt I was in disagreement with the majority about something I usually found myself “corrected” as a result of asking people for advice or reading material and getting the one side they wanted me to believe.
My challenge to you is to obtain your belief firsthand, do not rely on someone else’s experience and belief to guide you. Otherwise you will wander in the desert for 40 years like the Israelites or in the wilderness for 22 as I did.
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