Belief in God

Galatians 3:5-7 (NLT)

5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

The message the apostle conveyed here is about faith. Faith is belief with strong conviction; firm belief in something for which there may be no tangible proof; complete trust in or devotion to. Faith is the opposite of doubt. Abraham demonstrated his faith by believing God even when there was no proof of a future outcome.

[A Beautiful Mind tells the story of John Nash (Russell Crowe), who is a brilliant mathematician that struggles with mental instability. His marriage is a testimony of true love and commitment through years of trial, illness, and—finally—great success.

On the evening Nash proposes to his future wife, he shows up very late to the restaurant where he's supposed to meet her to celebrate her birthday. Painfully embarrassed about his mistake, he manages to win back her affection. Then he awkwardly straightens his tie and drops to one knee to propose.

As a true scientist, he is uncertain how to justify making such a great commitment with evidence that is so difficult to measure. The ensuing conversation convinces him that he's found true love:

Nash: Alicia, does our relationship warrant long term commitment? I need some kind of proof, some kind of verifiable empirical data.

 Alicia: [giggling at his awkwardness] Sorry, I'm just trying to get over my girlish notions of romance. Hmmm…proof…verifiable data…. Okay. How big is the universe?

 Nash: Infinite

 Alicia: How do you know?

 Nash: I know because all the data indicates it's infinite.

 Alicia: But it hasn't been proven yet.

 Nash: No

 Alicia: You haven't seen it.

 Nash: No

 Alicia: How do you know for sure?

 Nash: I don't. I just believe it.

 Alicia: It's the same with love, I guess.

[A Beautiful Mind (Universal, 2001), written by Akiva Goldsman, directed by Ron Howard; submitted by Bill White, Paramount, California]]

Nash knew the proof that existed about the size of the universe. The problem was it had never been proven, nor had anyone ever seen far out into the universe. Yet his belief was - there had to be an infinite universe.

1 John 3:1 says, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.” Pray for those who don’t know God that they may learn of Him.