Sitting in the Truth: What It Really Means to Believe
Chewing on John 3:16 and Letting It Sink In—One Word at a Time
This morning I sat down to do some Bible verse mapping. Nothing fancy, just a notebook, a pen, and a heart that wanted to hear from God. I picked what’s probably the most famous verse in the Bible—John 3:16. You know it. You’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve even memorized it. But today, I didn’t just want to read it. I wanted to live in it for a moment.
So I pulled up three translations: the ESV, the NLT, and The Message. Each one hit a little differently, but the same three words stood out and wouldn’t let go—God’s love, believe, and everlasting life.
Let me start with God’s love. The Thompson Chain Bible calls it universal love, a love that’s for everybody. And sure, that sounds nice and all, but I think it’s way bigger than we grasp. We toss around the word "love" like it's casual, like it's not the driving force behind the most powerful sacrifice ever made. God didn’t just love the good people. He loved the whole mess of us—liars, cheaters, doubters, quitters. And He loved us enough to give.
Not trade. Not loan. Not rent.
Give.
And then there’s this word—believe. That one messed with me a bit. It’s not just about agreeing in your head that God exists. Heck, even the devil believes that. But belief, real belief, changes how you live. It becomes a posture of life. You believe in the chair you’re sitting on right now, right? You walked over and plopped down without a second thought because you trusted it. That’s belief in action. No hesitation. No backup plan.
Believing in God is trusting Him the same way. Not with a “just in case” clause, but with all of you. Every part. And yeah, I’m not there all the time. Some days I’m barely hanging on. But belief is choosing trust—again and again—even when you don’t feel it.
Lastly, there’s everlasting life. And I’ll be honest: I can’t even wrap my head around that one. What does “forever” even mean to people like us who count minutes, age by years, and wear watches? But it’s there. It’s a promise. Not a theory. Not a vague hope. A promise that when this life ends, something even more real begins.
So that’s where I am today—chewing on this verse that I thought I already knew. Meditating. Asking God to make it real, not just in my head, but in how I move through my day.
What about you?
Are you sitting in the truth, or are you still just reading it?