The conversation on the train dealt first with... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

With the heart one believes unto righteousness.
Romans 10:10.

The conversation on the train dealt first with general world affairs but then turned to Christian subjects. The elderly lady liked to talk about them. She had been a church-goer since her childhood and had had a sound Christian upbringing that had marked her character to old age.

There had indeed been strokes of fate in her life, yet she still believed in God, in his Son Jesus Christ, in heaven and hell, and in the last judgment. That did not satisfy her opposite number, however. Why not? Were there flaws in her faith? Was it merely theoretical? Did her faith consist only in good Christian traditions that characterised her life?

A good, Christian character is indeed a blessing for our life here. But traditions can cover up thoughts and attitudes that are not visible. Our innermost personality must at some time in our life be shaken up, so that we recognise how God sees us.

The conviction that we cannot stand before God without Christ, the Saviour, is not inborn in us. Adopting Christian opinions is not equivalent to believing them in our heart.

There must therefore be a moment in our life when our faults and sins trouble our conscience, and we call on the Lord for salvation. Then we realise that we are lost without Christ. And then we are ready to put everything aside on which we have trusted and accept with simple, childlike faith: "With the heart one believes unto righteousness".

Today's reading: Isaiah 46:1-13 · Hebrews 10:1-10