Steps to Believing

John 4:39-42 - Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

How do you believe? Believing is the core action in becoming a Christian. In the most quoted verse of the bible, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in him (Jesus) will receive eternal life.” (John 3:16). That means those who do not believe in Jesus do not receive eternal life. There is a lot at stake in this thing called believing. Yet, many people struggle believing. “I can’t believe it.” “It is hard to believe.”

Believing and seeing others believe does not have to be that difficult. We may feel that we have to understand perfectly before we believe in Jesus. We may think we have all our questions answered before we can even take the first step. Thank God that is not the case. We simply need to respond to what we know, however small that amount is, to begin this process of believing. (Matthew 13:31-32)

The people of the town of Sychar in John 4 show us how belief starts and develops. The story begins with a rejected woman who had a conversation with Jesus in which “he told me everything I ever did.” Jesus showed his transcendent knowledge to the woman to prove himself to her. He did not answer every theological question she had. He did not perform every miracle he could have. He simply showed her he knew some of her life struggles and challenges and that he offered a better way – “living water.”

This woman’s response was to run back to town to the people who had rejected her and invite them to come meet Jesus. She was not an eloquent speaker with a PhD in Theology. She had just met Jesus and invited others to do the same, and they came. They believed Jesus first because they saw a change in her. They were willing to drop the important things they were doing to see this man who had changed the town reject’s life.

The townspeople, too, did not get all their questions answered immediately, but over the next two days spent with Jesus, they came to believe in him on their own. Their faith developed step by step: 1) Hearing the woman’s words about Jesus, 2) Coming to Jesus, and 3) Getting to know Jesus. See what they said in verse 42: “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Where are you in the process of belief? If you have made it this far in my blog, you are at least at step one. You have heard my story of faith. If you would like to hear more, please reply to me. However, the better step is to come to Jesus. Spend time with him and his people and let him reveal himself to you. As that happens, you will experience what the people of Sychar and over a billion others through history have: you will know indeed this Jesus is the Savior of the world.