"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." (Luke 2:8-12)
Now note what the shepherds said and did:
"And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us." (Luke 2:15)
Most people would say, "Come, let us go and see if this thing is so."
But it was not so with the shepherds. They simply wanted to see the great thing, which they knew was true, because the Lord had made it known to them. That was simple faith, and it is all there is to faith. Faith is the simplest and most natural thing in the world. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
There can be no faith where there is no word of God; but where there is the word of God, all one has to do is to believe it, not hesitatingly, not questioningly, but with the positiveness of actual knowledge.
Who would think of trying to teach a little child how to believe its parents? Surely it is important that the child should believe its parents, is it not? Certainly; but there is no necessity for teaching, for the child believes without being taught. It is the most natural thing in the world to do. Now all there is to having faith is to believe just as a little child does.
It does not require an effort to have faith. On the contrary an effort is required not to have faith. For he who does not have faith necessarily believes that which is not true; and it stands to reason that it is much easier to believe truth than to believe falsehood.
God's word is truth, and it is the foundation of faith. Therefore faith gives the only true wisdom, since nothing is wisdom except the knowledge of truth.--Present Truth, August 17, 1893--Timeline: I-2 (The Announcement to the Shepherds)--Luke 2:8-15.