Not Mine, but Given to Me

Again, the Holy Spirit nudged me to slow down today.  Read it and take it in.

2 Peter 1:1b "To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:"  (at this rate it might take me a year to get through 2 Peter).

Praise God for His righteousness and a precious faith.  The think that got me in this part of the verse was that we  have received our faith.  That word made me stop and think.  Now, received is not a word I need to look up to have to know the definition of or even the specifics of.  It means to take or accept something that has been given to you (I am sure there are other, more fancy definitions, but you get my laymo version here).

Up until I stopped and read this verse I had always thought of faith as something that was mine.  It was a decision I made when I decided to accept Christ and what He did for me.  But, here, in this verse it says that faith is also something that was given to me.

When I stop and think about it, it is so very true.  Faith is something that God gave me.  Why would I ever be conceited enough to think I could have something like that on my own?  God planted faith into my very being.  It is part of who we all are.  We just have to make the choice to accept it, to take it into our possession, to make it part of our daily lives.

We also have to realize that this God-given faith is not something we can do on our own once we have accepted it.  As we grow in this faith, we have to stop and realize many times that we don't often have enough, but have to rely on God to fill us.  We have to remember that He is the "author and perfecter of our faith".  So we can't think that we can do it all by ourselves.  It is from Him.  Once we accept it, it doesn't mean that He is separated from it, but that we are now on the faith 'team' together.

Have you made the choice to accept the faith you have been given?  To accept the precious gift of righteousness given to us by the blood of Christ?  It isn't anything you can do on your own, or make better, or be good enough to receive.  It is already there for you.  You just have to accept it and He will accept you.