Hot Coals

We have all listened to motivational speakers at one time or another and many of us have taken part in the activities or programs they talk about. It is often a matter of believing in what they believe and taking that belief to the next level and using it to change our lives. Maybe it is simply a matter of a single act that shows us we can believe in ourselves and others. The motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, has a part of his program that brings out that belief in the people attending his seminars.  On the last day of the seminar, the people who put it on lay out a strip of wood about 25 feet long and then light it. It burns all day and at the end of the day it is a bed of coals with a temperature of 1,800 degrees. To put this in perspective, aluminum starts to melt at about 1,200 degrees and steel at about 2,600 degrees. At the end of the day, the students are encouraged to walk the length of the bed of coals barefooted. They are assured they will not burn their feet if they follow directions. There is a video on the internet of Oprah Winfrey going across that bed of coals, after first swearing she would never do it.  She believed in what she heard and learned and crossed successfully.

It is all about faith. She had faith in the people who ran the conference, faith that they knew what they were talking about. I can’t begin to imagine how scary that had to be, but she knew she would not be harmed by the hot coals. Get that? She knew. She took the word of someone else and followed the instructions to the letter because of her belief in them.

As Christians we are asked to believe in someone we have never met, someone who lived once a long time ago and has devout followers all over the world. Jesus walked on the Earth for more than 30 years. The people who lived in that time period and within a walking distance knew Jesus. They saw him, heard him talk about God and salvation. Those times have passed; more than two millennia are behind us. Yet we hold onto a system of values and beliefs given to us to guide our lives. Despite all of the nay-sayers and others who challenge us or attack us, we still believe.

I was once told that believing in God and in Jesus Christ based on faith alone is the most illogical of actions. There is only a little proof that Jesus lived and no physical proof of God’s existence. We, however, know that God is alive and well and that Jesus Christ walked upon this planet and today sits at the Father’s right hand. Perhaps we can’t prove the existence to others, but we carry that proof in our hearts and souls. Those of us who have faith have all of the proof we need.

Jesus told the Apostles that their faith, even if it was the size of a small mustard seed, could pick up a mountain and toss it into the sea. I have no intention of picking up a mountain, or even a small hill, and tossing it into the ocean. What I do intend to do is to believe in God wholeheartedly and in His desire to love me and take care of me.

What about you? Do you believe it God totally? Or, do you believe in Him only in your mind and ignoring the rest of yourself? Until you can accept God with all that you are and all you will ever be, you will be incomplete in your belief and in your life as a Christian. If you only believe in God, in Jesus, in your head, then that is just an intellectual exercise. You need to trust God totally and let him into your life, to be the most important part of it.

What do you have to lose? Take that step! It doesn’t lead to a bed of burning coals, just to a wonderful life here on earth and, later, with God in Heaven for eternity.