Is it the real thing or did you get it wholesale?

Is it the real thing or did you get it wholesale?

I want you to know brothers that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:11-12 NIV

Someone gave me a book of Psalms. Since every Bible I have contains the book of Psalms I resolved to pass it on to someone else. I gave the book to a friend at work. She briefly studied the cover and then studied me in a quizzical way. After a moment she handed the book back to me and said, "I am not a religious person." To which I responded, "Neither am I."

Some people think we believers were raised to follow religion. They think we were snatched away from rational thinking and reprogrammed to follow religious protocols. But I don't follow a religion. I am not and have never been brainwashed into religious fanaticism. Like Paul and probably like you, I got faith in God from God Himself.

I have seen some that have peddled their home-grown religion at wholesales prices. But there were many others that shared The Real-Thing with enthusiasm, love and intelligence. The first hardened my mind toward God. The second opened my mind to the reality of God. But I still needed my own experience of Him, my own Damascus Road experience, and He did not disappoint. I remember thinking one day that all of this god stuff was nonsense. And on the next day I caught myself believing, praying, seeking and finding God. And when God had a full grasp on me, He sent me to Christ for safe keeping. He placed me into hands that won't let me slip out (John 6:35).

If you truly believe in Christ, you didn't make it up and you didn't buy it wholesale from some other human. If you truly believe, then your faith is the genuine article and it came from the Lord. Real faith cannot be had from the religious discount bin. Real faith in God is not cheap, for the real thing came on the shoulders of Christ.