Do I Even Know You?

You Can Believe And Trust Jesus.

Do I Even Know You?

This is what I ask myself when someone replies, "I'll pay you back, I promise," just after asking for some money. Believing a promise takes trust. Trust depends on knowledge, which comes from learning and knowing the truth about a person's past and present.

Learning about a person's past can come from several sources. First, the person themselves may reveal it in what they say, what they don't say, and how they say it. Their demeanor today may verify what they have said or contradict what they have said. So learning about a person's past may take careful reflection on what is said and how it is said. Is it believable?

Another source for learning about a person's history, to get to know the person, can come from what others say about the person. Receiving this information takes a certain amount of trust in the person relating the information to you. In other words, you must already trust what this person says to believe and trust what is said about the person you want to learn about. If you don't trust the first person, would you find it easy to trust the second person?

A third way to learn about a person's past is to look at what they are today – how they act, how they speak to and about others, and their general mannerisms. Even their facial expressions can tell a story, although many have learned to "keep a straight face" when describing a "crooked story." But does their conduct verify their words?

Do they have references who would vouch for them as the person they portray themselves as? Many in the business world ask for someone to provide references they can check out. Providing a reference is found to be common, from renting a home to getting a job. Jesus makes some promises that are hard to believe without knowing anything about Jesus and who he is. Therefore, how can a person believe in or trust Jesus without knowing anything about him? A Bible story in Acts 8:25-40 illustrates this for us.

The Ethiopian eunuch trusted the Bible, although he did not understand parts of it. Philip could start with what he trusted and where he had been reading, and tell him about Jesus. While riding together, Philip may have had time to relate several promises of Jesus and who he was. The one evident promise was the forgiveness of his sin. The eunuch showed his understanding of this promise when, in verse 36, the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" The eunuch believed and trusted Jesus enough to know that God would forgive his sin if he were baptized. This promise of the forgiveness of sin when a believer is baptized is the promise to everyone who believed and trusted Jesus since Peter first told the 3,000 people (see Acts 2:38) to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Do you know and trust Jesus enough to yield yourself to baptism for the forgiveness of your sin so you can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Written 07/23/2016

By Larry E. Whittington

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