BECAUSE YOU SAY SO, I WILL
If what Jesus says must be logical to you and agree with what you already know, your actions will not be motivated by faith. Faith is present when the only basis of your actions is because Jesus said so.
Peter and his partners fished the same water all night and did not catch a single fish. Yet Jesus told Peter, "Put out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." (Lk. 5:4) Jesus, a carpenter, was telling Peter, a professional fisherman, where to fish. Peter knew from the days vain toil that there were no fish in that water. However, Peter's reply to Jesus was not based on his knowledge but upon his faith in Jesus. He said, "Because you say so, I will let down the nets." (v.5)
BECAUSE YOU SAY SO, I WILL is a verbal expression of an inner conviction. Our actions should be upon the same basis as Peter's. We need to stop leaning on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5) and place our full weight on Jesus words. Our statement needs to be, "Because you say so, I will." Churches and Christians are dying today because they can't humanly "see" how what Jesus has said can be true. We forget that we walk by faith and not by sight. (1 Cor. 5:7)
Examine your own faith. Do you accept the fact that you can be forgiven of your sins no matter how bad you have been? (1 Tim. 2:15-16) Are you seeking God's kingdom first or trying to take care of other things first? (Matt. 6:33) Do you trust that all things are working out for your good or is your mind cluttered with all of the things that you know won't? (Rom. 8:28)
Peter did not stop with "I will"; he went fishing! His conviction led his partners to follow him and when they did what Jesus said they caught so many fish that the nets began to break and both boats were so full of fish that they began to sink. When Jesus does something, He does it right!
Your faith will become real when the only motivation for your action is faith in Jesus Christ. A Christian doesn't need any other reason to act than the fact that Jesus said so.
---Riley Walker