Doubting Thomas - If he had only knew!One lesson we learn from the disciple and the name he inherited, Doubting Thomas, was that Jesus is with us whether we see him or not. The story can be found in John, chapter 20, versus 24 through 29. Per the KJV it reads as follows: John 20:24 – But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Did-y-mus, was not with them when Jesus came. John 20:25 – The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. John 20:26 – And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. John 20:27 – Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. John 20:28 – And, Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my God. John 20:29 – Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou has believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. As we found in verse 25, Jesus was not visibly present when Thomas made the statement that he needed some proof before he was going to buy into what the rest of the crowd was saying. I find many today saying the same thing over and over again. Show me the proof and I will believe. They want in your face proof of Jesus before they will step forward in faith and believe. I often ask them what kind of proof are they looking for and I can never get a solid answer. When I do get an answer I generally can challenge it pretty easily. They may say that they need a miracle before they can believe. Jesus performed miracle after miracle in front of Thomas prior to this and he still had doubts. Jesus made the blind see, raised the dead, healed the crippled, walked on water, calmed the seas, fed five thousand, and on and on. Yet Thomas when it came down to it still wanted some more proof. So I don't buy into the idea that seeing a miracle is going to help someone believe in our Lord, Jesus Christ! Back to good old doubting Thomas. If he had only known that Jesus was hearing and seeing his doubt just eight days prior he would surely have been ashamed of himself. Do you believe that Jesus is watching and seeing everything you do. How much differently would we all act if we truly understood this very fact. I know for myself I often forget this fact. Jesus is watching, and He is seeing our behavior. Knowing this, shouldn't we truly behave differently. Maybe spend less time staring into the television and more time with our kids. Maybe spend a little more time trying to help those in need. Maybe not look at that advertisement that has a woman just a little less clothed than she should be. Maybe skip that movie that has two people that are not married doing the wild thing. Maybe not talking with the sales clerk in such a harsh way when we don't get our way! Jesus is always watching and once we realize this very fact we will do and say things a little bit differently. You see this is what faith is. We can talk a good game but our actions are what really matter. Thomas was most likely trying to act smart by saying he needed some proof. Show me the money as someone might say today. Many elders in the church today do the same things. We need faith giving vouchers before we can move forward on something they will say. Here's the bottom line. If the word of God says it! It will be! No other proof is necessary! We need to focus on His will and not ours! If you are looking for proof, it will come, but it might be when you are standing before Him at the Great White Throne of Judgment! Then it's too late! Thank you and may God bless you!
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