Faith Like a Taco

Rhonda Rhea is quirky and fun, but with extraordinary wisdom and depth. I love the way she makes me laugh and then think ... as I did when I read this UPGRADE Your Faith post:

“Okay, so here’s an idea,” Rhonda said. “A taco, but with a folded hamburger patty for the shell. Because nobody lives forever anyway.”

I had to create a photo to go with Rhonda’s inspiration … complete with fat in the pan.

She continues …

It makes me want to imagine there’s actually a quote that goes, “Ask not for whom the Taco Bell tolls. It probably tolls for thee.”

I’m not sure how to stop my brain from coming up with new ideas that add fat content to my diet by the thigh-load. You’d think my cholesterol numbers would scare me straight. Of course, this is precisely why I don’t regularly have my cholesterol checked. Knowing might actually be a strain on my heart.

Some people don’t know that cholesterol can produce extra adrenaline that way. I do wonder if at some point my heart and thighs will together rise up and tell me enough is enough.

When it comes to faith, though, is there ever a point we feel we have enough? And how much would that be? Even the disciples asked Jesus to grow their faith (Luke 17:5) and they were eye-witnesses to the miracles of Christ. They heard His words firsthand.

This life is full of challenges. We need a faith that’s not merely “enough.” We need faith that’s meaty. Double-meaty, even.

We beef up our faith every time we remember exactly where that faith is placed. It’s not faith in faith. That’s just a lot of extra fat.

Hebrews 12:2 refers to Jesus as “the author and perfecter of faith,” (NASB). Our “Author” creates our faith in the first place. The Greek word used there can also mean “captain.” The word for “perfecter” means “completer” or “finisher.” Jesus originates, creates, generates our faith. He captains, steers, controls our faith. We can fully trust Him to perfect, complete, sustain our faith.

Take a look at the paraphrase:  “No extra spiritual fat … Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in . . . When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message)

Each time we think of the One who originated and sustains our faith, and each time we remember the cross of Christ and all that’s been done to complete our faith, it revs up our faith up all the more. We’re talking good adrenaline here. Not a strain on the heart. As a matter of fact, nothing is heart-healthier.

All the Lord has done for our faith is oh, so enough. Our faith can rest in His “enough-ness.” The hymn says it so well:

My faith has found a resting place, Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever living One, His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.*

Let’s fix our eyes on Him and His “enough-ness” and let our faith pleasantly rest there. And let it flourish there.

Faith in Him. Faith in what He accomplished on the cross.

It’s faith folded into faith. And that’s beefy—in only the very best ways.

Is your faith “beefy,” resting in Jesus? What does it mean to you today that He will always be “enough” for all your needs?

Rhonda Rhea is a humor columnist, radio personality, speaker and author of 10 books, including How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Person? and her newest, Espresso Your Faith - 30 Shots of God's Word to Wake You Up. Rhonda lives near St. Louis and is a pastor’s wife and mother of five grown children. Find out more at www.RhondaRhea.com.

* Hymn, “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place” by Eliza E. Hewitt in Songs of Joy and Gladness, 1891.