“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”- John 20:30-31
My human was sitting in his chair this morning with his Bible open and coffee close by.
I was lying at his feet doing what I do best—keeping watch, listening…and hoping something edible might fall within reach.
He read those words: “Jesus is the Messiah.”
Now, I’m a dog. I don’t understand all the big theological words humans use. Half the time I’m still trying to understand why “stay” means stay when there’s a bunny in the yard.
But I wondered what Messiah really means.
My human leaned back and said, “Messiah means Jesus is the One God promised. The Savior. The King. The One who came to rescue us from something we could never rescue ourselves from.”
Well…that got my attention.
Because believing Jesus was a good man is one thing.
Believing He was a great teacher is another.
Even believing He performed miracles doesn’t necessarily change your life.
But believing Jesus is the Messiah changes everything.
It means the baby in the manger was God’s promised Savior.
It means the Man hanging on the cross was paying for sins that weren’t His.
It means the empty tomb wasn’t the ending of a story—it was the beginning of hope.
And it means Jesus isn’t simply someone to know about.
He is Someone to trust.
Someone to believe.
Someone to follow.
Someone to call Lord.
I understand trust pretty well.
When my human says, “Come on, boy,” I usually follow him.
I don’t ask where we’re going.
I don’t demand a map.
I don’t need to know every turn before we leave.
I know him.
I trust him.
So I follow.
Maybe that’s part of what faith looks like.
We can know the Christmas story.
Know about the cross.
Know about the empty tomb.
Quote Scripture.
Sit in church.
Even call ourselves Christians.
But eventually Jesus asks the question He asked His disciples:
“Who do you say I am?”
And that little word “my” becomes mighty important.
Not just the Savior.
My Savior.
Not just the Lord.
My Lord.
Jesus being the Messiah means God kept His promise.
Trusting Him means I’m putting the weight of my life—my past, present, future, sin, failures, fears and eternity—in His hands.
Making Him Lord means I quit insisting that I get to hold the leash.
And maybe that’s the lesson this old dog needed today.
Faith isn’t merely believing Jesus can save.
It is trusting that Jesus will save those who place their faith in Him.
So when He says, “Come, follow Me,” maybe we don’t need to understand every mile of the journey.
We just need to know the One leading us.
Trust Him.
Believe Him.
Follow Him.
Because Jesus isn’t simply a way to make life better.
Jesus is THE Way.
THE Messiah.
And that means everything.
And I’m just an old lazy dog…learning what it means to believe.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
