Do you believe God wholly and completely? Just because you go to church, and you have been in the church your entire life doesn’t make you a Christian. For the Jews, just because they learned the Scriptures, receive the proper education, and just because they had they could point to their parents and grandparents and prove their genealogy that they were indeed of the tribe of Israel—well, that is well and good—but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are truly and Israelite in the eyes of God. Remember what Jesus told Nathanael in John 1:47, “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” In the Old Testament, such as in Jeremiah 9, that being an outward Israelite meant nothing. God is the one who chose the Israelites, and so being merely from the tribe of Israel meant nothing if they were not circumcised in heart. Jesus, the Messiah, comes on the scene and He does what Israel could never do for themselves, He actually gives them a new heart by making them a new creature. And so now, a Jew could be a real Jew, a true Israelite in whom nothing is false. When Jesus saw Nathanael, obvious, Nathanael was not perfect, but what was it about Nathanael that made him a true Israelite? It was his humble spirit of faith and belief in God. Nathanael was acting just like Abraham. A man who chooses to believe God, to humble himself before God. A man who knows that God sees him, and is honest and sincere before God. A man like David himself, who prayed, “Lord, see if there be any wicked way in me.” A man who knew that God sees the inmost thoughts of the heart and humbles himself wholly and completely and entirely unto God. And so, even for you and me, just because we may have grown up in a Christian family, just because we have always gone to church, just because we grew up in a Christian tradition—it does not make us a child of God. All the way back at the very beginning of the Scriptures, we see what it is that God desires of His people—ones who believe Him no matter what. Ones who are fully surrendered to God, by faith. Abraham was told that his wife of old age would bear a son, and Abraham did not doubt God, He just believed. I urge you, in a growing age of skepticism, in a world that questions the authority of Scriptures, believe God’s Word. Don’t give into skepticism and doubt. And do not attempt to stand over God’s Word as if you are the judge over what is true and what is not true. God’s Word is true! Let that be your starting point. Even if you don’t fully understand it. Even if you have many questions. Even if there is much that still doesn’t make sense to you, are you willing to be like Abraham and fall on your knees and say, “God, I don’t know the answer to everything, and sometimes what I read in the Bible seems so strange—but, God, I believe You. I choose to trust You. Even if my friends and family do not trust You, I choose to trust You. Lord, help me to believe You even as Abraham believed You. I desire to be a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false. I want to be a true child of God. Lord, fill me with Your Spirit, conform me into the image of Christ, I humbly surrender my all to You, by faith. Amen.” Click on the link to listen to this sermon: