Convinced?

Convinced.  Did you ever try to convince anyone about something?  Of course you have.  We try to convince our kids to eat vegetables,  a colleague to back a certain candidate, or maybe you work in sales and do it for a living!!  As is my custom, I refer to the online-dictionary for a definition: to move by argument or evidence to belief, agreement, consent, or a course of action.  Hmm, convincing takes argument and evidence to confirm belief.  Jesus worked in just such a way.  He stayed clear of knock-down drag-out arguments, instead he used declaration and demonstration to instill belief , and conviction in those he met.

Let me give you an example.  If you want to convince someone about anything, let’s say quitting smoking, you begin with the argument/declaration.  At the onset you state the facts; it’s expensive, unhealthy, and makes everything stink.  They’ve heard that all before, so now you unload the big guns, evidence.  Maybe it’s documentation of your own battle with nicotine, and how you overcame.  Or demonstrate to them via pictures, videos or other visual sources what smoking does to the body.  Ultimately it is an individual decision based on the argument and evidence.  Jesus does the same.  Throughout scripture, he declares who he is, and what we have to gain in believing him.  Then to bring the point home, he demonstrates his case with miracles, visual evidence of his power.  Nowhere in the Bible do I see Christ belittling or scaring people into believing, he wants us to be convinced.

In the 26th chapter of Acts, Paul is called before King Agrippa to defend his faith in Christ.  He does a marvelous job of declaring/ arguing his case, and then demonstrates it with evidence of his testimony.  Read it for yourself.  Agrippa listens to it all, and then we hear this exchange; “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

Are you, like Paul, not Agrippa, convinced, beyond all doubt, that Jesus is the Lord of your life?  He has given us all the opportunity to become convinced, though his declaration and demonstration.  Maybe you won’t have to defend your conviction to an earthly king, but one day we will stand before the King of Creation.  You need to Be CONVINCED!! “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.” Romans 8:38