Scripture

“I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

~John 20:25, NLT

Quote

Demanding a sign proves the weakness and immaturity of our faith.

~Charles Stanley

Thomas the apostle, often referred to as the twin, is most famous for his doubt but he was actually one of the more passionate disciples. When Jesus announced that He was going to Bethany which is very near Jerusalem, the disciples protested. They were all aware of the hatred the Jewish religious establishment had for Jesus. It was Thomas who backed Jesus up…Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.” Thomas was very honest about his lack of understanding. When Jesus said in John 14…And you know the way I AM going… It was Thomas who honestly confessed…“No, we don’t know, Lord, we have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” He was the only one of the eleven who was not present when Jesus appeared that first Sunday night. When the other disciples related to him what had happened, he did not believe them. Thomas said, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” That was the last time Thomas laid out of church: the next Sunday, he was present and Jesus showed up again. Jesus presence was an embarrassing moment for Thomas. There Jesus stood with His nail scared wrist and the hole in his side. He invited Thomas to put his finger in the holes. I don’t know if Thomas touched Jesus or not but I do know he confessed, “My Lord and my God!” This was a defining moment in Thomas life. From this point on, he was a different man.

I relate to more than one disciple: I admit that I am very impetuous like Peter. I speak too quickly which can also lead to embarrassment. If I had to choose one of the twelve that I relate to most, it would probably be Thomas. I am a doubter by nature. I am not bragging; I am confessing. I’m like the father of the child who had seizures, “LORD, I believe, please help my unbelief.”  I have faith but it is far from perfect. Perfect faith has no doubt and I confess there is some doubt in my faith. I would love for the LORD to remove it; I would like to have perfect faith. There is no doubt, Thomas has an imperfect faith but the good news is that Jesus exercised infinite patience with him and Thomas became a faithful witness for Jesus. It was Thomas who carried the gospel to the East. He did mission work in Parthia {modern day Iran} and India. Matter of fact, he was martyred in India and if I am not mistaken, his grave can be visited there today. So Thomas faith evolves from being tiny and immature to being great. This should give us hope. “LORD, I do believe, help my unbelief and make my faith strong and steadfast.”

Extra

I did the blog yesterday and it was ready to post this morning but I forgot. I was finishing up my devotions this a.m. and thought about composing tomorrows blog when suddenly I remembered: I had not posted today. Sorry about that! Last week I forgot to put the garbage can on the road.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.