I don't think God is real because the Bible says so. I don't think God is who He says He is in the Bible merely because the Bible says so. And I really don't think the Bible is true because it says so...in the Bible ("Kendall, why do you think the Bible is true?" "Because it says so." "Where?" "In the Bible." "But how do you know that what the Bible says is true?" "Because the Bible says so...").
*sidenote: How strange does the word "Bible" start to look after typing it nine times? Is that even the right word? Am I talking about the right thing??*
We walk by faith, not by sight, but that doesn't mean I blindly accept the Bible just because I want to.
I accept the Bible not because it says it's true, but because I've experienced it to be true.
"Experiences are circumstantial," you may say. I can accept that to a degree, but I know who I am because of Christ, and I know who I'd be without Christ. I know that when I beg Him, "Speak," He whispers gently to my heart. I know that when I plead, "Hold me," I'm filled with a comfort I can't explain. I know that when, as I lay in my bed at night, I call upon the power of Christ, my mind is yanked back from places it shouldn't go, and I experience victory that I know I cannot achieve on my own (I've tried!).
So I don't believe God is true because I think the Bible is true.
I know the Bible is true because I know God is true.
I know because I've seen His power, and the power of His word to set the captive free. I know because someone like me should never be able to experience a feeling of absolute freedom and purity, but I've felt it. I know because I've seen the impossible accomplished in my life. I know because on days when I should be tired and irritable and snappy, He comes and says, "You don't have to say yes to that; you can say yes to Me." I know because He's said yes. I know because He's said no. I know, because me and God? We're good friends, He and I. And now, even when I can't see, I've experienced enough of Him to go forward blindly, trusting in His goodness and His character.
So I believe that Jesus is the Son of God; that belief in Him means salvation and freedom from the tyranny of sin; and a whole SLEW of other things under that umbrella not because a book told me so (I mean, books say Harry Potter is a boy who goes to Hogwarts, but I don't think that's true) but because I don't know how to explain what has happened in my life any other way. Not merely the important reading of Scripture, but the fulfillment of Scripture in my life -- that's why I'm willing to give my life to this, and I won't for one second count it wasted.
"I hear these people asking me, How do I know what I believe? Well, I'm not the same me, and that's all the proof I need." -Britt Nicole, "All This Time"
