1 Kings 10:6-8
And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.  Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.  Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

The greatness of Solomon’s kingdom was true whether the Queen of Sheba believed it or not.  While she yet dwelt in her kingdom and had only heard stories, the living reality of Solomon’s kingdom was playing out far from her vision of it.  And, in fact, it all turned out to be even better than she had imagined it could be when she finally saw it for herself.  But she had to see it to believe it.  She had to go there herself and talk to Solomon, hear his wisdom, see the glory of the kingdom, the splendor of the temple, the abundance he had, and the people who served him with gladness.

Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”  And the greatness of Jesus and His resurrection is true whether we believe it or not.  It is there, a living reality, whether we see it from where we are or not.  And we cannot see Jesus in person now, but we hear the reports of those who have seen.  We have the biblical accounts of what Jesus said and did.  We can seek Him, and He will be found.  We can come to know Him for ourselves.  And He will always be more than we were expecting to find.

And even if we can’t see Jesus in all His glory as He exists right now, we can experience Him and know Him in a very personal way.  We can know His love and forgiveness.  We can receive His blessings that He will pour into our lives.  We can have rest and peace in Him.  We can serve Him with gladness.  We can appreciate His wisdom as He guides our lives.  And we can catch these glimpses every now and then of His true greatness and splendor that someday we will experience firsthand.

It may seem from a distance that a life of following Jesus isn’t all that great.  It may seem from afar like a drudgery or too big a sacrifice or not really worth it.  But the closer we get to Jesus, the more He reveals to us and the more we are able to see just what it means to be part of His kingdom.  Once we’ve been a part of His family for ourselves and felt the touch of His grace and experienced His love and mercy, we’ll understand more fully what a privilege and an honor it is to know Him.  And we’ll find a fullness of life in Christ that we could have never imagined.  So may we be willing to simply believe.