Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself
stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you." But they
were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. Luke 24:36-37
At least the disciples were
consistent; every one of them reacted the same way. We are in good company.
They just acted like human beings who do not believe the truth.
There
is a difference between the desire to believe and actually believing so that
it becomes a part of one's life. The Jews have a zeal for God, but not
according to knowledge (Romans 10:2). Paul implies it is not according to
truth.
Human beings operate from a mind that has a natural bent away
from God. It is something that is inherent within us - we have been
pre-programmed away from God by the time God begins to work His miracle in
us. We consistently want to go our own way in disbelief. One can imagine
where this leads. We have to recognize that there exists within us a sincere
desire to do what is right, yet we must make conscious effort to choose the
right. That is what builds character.
God works us into a position
where we are free to make the choice in a way that others, who do not have
the truth revealed to them, are not free. He has removed the scales from our
eyes, but it is not a one time thing or done all at once. Rather, it is
something that progresses - each one of us at a different rate, at the rate
we are capable of using it. However, He always puts us in a position where
we have to make a conscious choice. Otherwise, we are not living by faith and
character will not be built.
We can see that God leads us to a point
where the mind is open or receptive to the truth, but we have to use the
truth to ensure that we move in the direction He wants us to go
in.

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