Finding Certainty

   “Keep that light before your eye, and go directly toward it, and then you shall see the gate, at which, when you knock, you will be told what you are to do.”

    So I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now he had not run far from his own door when his wife and children, perceiving his departure, began to cry out to him so that he might return. But the man put his fingers in his ears and ran on crying, “Life, life, eternal life.” So he did not look behind him, but rather fled toward the middle of the plain. (Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress)

 In the Gospel of Luke he begins, "Many have undertaken. . . ." In spite of the many, we all need to undertake this brave venture for ourselves. In spite of the many, we must draw up our own accounts of what has been fulfilled in our lives, what our lives have been filled up with. In the end we all will enter into the account that Luke started from those who saw and heard God made flesh. Our accounts will tell of what we thought of that one account.

So we see that Luke explaining, "I myself have carefully investigated." So, we find we do not undertake this venture in spite of the many before us, but informed by them and even spurred on by them. This venture begins and continues with careful investigation. Those who seek will find. For those who knock, the door will be opened. We do not seek mere facts in order to be right, but signs of God's graceful hand in order to be rescued. And his work shines most brightly in the life, words, and presence of Jesus among us.

All of this, "so that you may know the certainty." The end result of this investigation is not only faith in God, but knowing God the Father and Jesus, whom he sent. Only then will we know we have been taught well. Only in this intimate relationship with Jesus can we find the certainty we long for, a place to stand in a sinking age.

What is the account of your life with God? Is he a forgotten memory, a distant light, or a true friend? How might Luke's account affect your account? What sort of things do you carefully investigate? What motivates you? Are you certain of anything? Do you think you can find certainty in anything?