reading this post written long time ago...
http://sungguh-nyata.blogspot.com/2011/04/blind-faith.html
hmm... and was thinking about this thing called, "FAITH", yet again...
What is faith?
When i was reading this portion of Bible, in the book of Hebrews, saying,
"now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see... This is what the ancients were commended for."
"...by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible..." (Hebrews 11:1-2 NIV)
"The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd."
"By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see." (The Message)
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputaion."
"By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." (New Living Translation)
"Iman adalah dasar dari segala sesuatu yang kita harapkan dan bukti dari segala sesuatu yang tidak kita lihat. Sebab oleh imanlah telah diberikan kesaksian kepada nenek moyang kita."
"Karena iman kita mengerti, bahwa alam semesta telah dijanjikan oleh firman Allah, sehingga apa yang kita lihat telah terjadi dari apa yang tidak dapat kita lihat." (Alkitab Terjemahan Baru)
"信 就 是 所 望 之 事 的 实 底 ， 是 未 见 之 事 的 确 据 。古 人 在 这 信 上 得 了 美 好 的 证 据 。
我 们 因 着 信 ， 就 知 道 诸 世 界 是 藉 神 话 造 成 的 ； 这 样 ， 所 看 见 的 ， 并 不 是 从 显 然 之 物 造 出 来 的 。" (Chinese Union Version - Simplified)
Probably because I was thinking about "FAITH" as something which can be felt, tasted, smelled, known that I would know it with my physical senses? Trying to imagine what is FAITH is, with my mind...
or because it's so intriguing that it makes me wanna figure it out, like,
'how is this faith works?... especially in terms of prayer, repentance, miracle working, spiritual gifts... in pleasing God... in seeing things which are unseen to naked eyes... how? why? and what is is thing called faith is...'
hmm... then, I read it again and again... and it came down to one simple thing... 'just believing' and continue to believe all those things which we don't seem to understand at first or perhaps not even until the second coming of Jesus Christ!
Believing... what is laid far far beyond my naked eyes, far far beyond my imagination, my mind...
Believing... what has been revealed to me, to my heart (to the point that which I would go like, 'yes, this is it... I chose to believe it...)
Hanging on...
Believing and continue to believe... even until your death!
That's what the accounts of people of faith which follow the first three verses in Hebrews 11...
"Because of faith..."
"Karena iman..."
then I remember, in Habakuk 2:4, it says,
"..but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness..." (NIV)
"..but the just will live by his faith.." (KJV)
"..tetapi orang yang benar itu akan hidup oleh percayanya.." (Alkitab TB)
"...one man will live by what he believes in and continue to live in it, walk in it until the end..."
At least, that's what I was thinking as I ponder on the subject of faith...
It's like when a man puts 'I wanna be a successful man in career' as his goal, and he works hard throughout his life, solely to achieve that goal, seeing that one day he will be a manager/CEO owning a property, having a family (depending on his definition of being successful), and believing that he will reach that goal...
that's how he hold onto his dream, goal, belief, vision of future and live on his life...
So, looking it in the context of 'religion'... i suppose that's how 'FAITH' is...
and if, let's say someone who considered to be atheist, doesn't believe in a cosmic deity, a god, a creator... having this 'goal' or 'foresight' of this future where he will be in and works towards it... and he really persevere regardless of the obstacles... and he did it, because he hold onto that future he envisioned...
then, being a people of certain faith, ok let's put it this way, a people of THE FAITH...
we chose to believe what we're taught to believe...
we live by what we chose to believe..
we act by the way we live..
... so, what is the thing which you've chosen to believe in and hold onto, for so long... for eternity?...
is it... FREEDOM?
is it... FORGIVENESS?
is it... REST? (not rest as in R.I.P.)
is it... simply living a LIFE?
and, I'm thinking... what is the thing I foresee in the future, or even now, in this 'religion'?
FAITH in what?
