Founder and Perfecter

Jesus is “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). We may be able to understand this more in terms of a parent and child. Imagine a mother who is teaching her daughter to drive. Imagine, too, that the daughter is particularly nervous. In fact, were it up to her, she’d rather her mom just drive her to school and soccer practice and her friend’s house. But the mother will not let her give in so easily. Instead, she instills confidence in her daughter by encouraging her, comforting her, and telling her that it’s okay to be nervous, but that she knows she can do it. Maybe she reminds her daughter of the time she learned to ride a bike, despite an almost paralyzing fear of taking the training wheels off. The daughter begins to believe her and is soon seated behind the wheel, seatbelt on. But the mother’s job isn’t done yet. She gave her daughter the confidence to start, but now she has to get her safely out of the parking lot, onto the road, and back to the parking lot again. So she instructs her daughter, demonstrates good practices, reminds her of the steps that are easy to forget, and corrects her when she starts to drift out of her lane. Soon, the car is parked again, and they get out, safe and sound. Even more so, Jesus not only furnishes us with the faith we need, but he makes sure we don’t lose faith and keeps us following after him.