Like Christ

“I can’t.”

Whenever I hear these words, or am tempted to say them myself, they give me pause.

Is it that I’m incapable of doing something? Or just that I’m unwilling?

I’m starting to think that we often wonder this about God.

Matthew tells the story of a man with leprosy that came and knelt before Jesus.
“‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.” –Matthew 8:2-3

The leper knew that Jesus could heal him, but would he?

I feel like my faith often rests in whether or not God will do something. It also rests in my sometimes desperate need to know that God thinks I can live the Christian life…that he believes in me.

I recently read “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell, and this gives me infinite hope:

“God has an incredibly high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things.

I have been told that I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. But what I am learning is that Jesus believes in me.

I have been told that I need to have faith in God. Which is a good thing. But what I am learning is that God has faith in me.

The rabbi thinks we can be like him.”

I can believe in God and that I’m capable of being like him when I’m assured that he is willing and that he believes in me too.