I was heading out to my office, which is behind my house, and my wife stopped me. She said, "Did you take my dongles?" They weren't dongles, I thought but didn't say. I knew what she was referring to, but I decided to be an annoying know-it-all instead of a helpful husband. That's because as far as I was aware, a dongle is a small device that you can plug into a computer. It acts as a digital access key for either broadband or a specific software package. In the strict sense of the word, neither my wife nor I have ever owned a dongle.

"No, I didn't take your dongles," I said, referring to the strictest sense of the word. If we'd never owned any dongles, how could I have taken hers? Though, I knew from the look on her face that she was not asking me if I had stolen something that she had never had in the first place. At this point, I was just playing coy.

"Didn't you take them the other day?" she asked, clearly referring to items which were in her possession previously. I then had to ask the obvious question.

"What do you mean by dongles?" What's funny about this exchange—maybe not funny to her—was that I knew what she was talking about the whole time. I had taken her flash drive and USB converter. Even though I knew what she was talking about, I was dodging her question because she used a word that I thought meant something else.

It turns out I'm an annoying blunder head sometimes. This kind of thing happens all the time. Whether we agreed on the meaning of the word or not, I knew what she meant because of context. By context, we can learn what a person means even if we don't know what a word means. This is how infants learn a language, and it's how language experts decipher unknown script.

This principle applies to our understanding of faith in the Bible too. The words "believe" and "faith" were used in everyday language in biblical times, not just in religious contexts. Understanding their common usage helps us grasp their meaning in the Gospel message. When Jesus or the apostles use these words, they're not inventing new meanings, but using them in ways their audience would understand.

So, when we read about believing in Jesus for eternal life, it's about being convinced or persuaded of who He is and what He offers. It's not some mystical concept, but a simple trust in His promise. Just like I knew what my wife meant by "dongles" despite my annoying response, we can understand what it means to believe in Jesus by looking at the context and common usage of these words.

This blog is based on "Eternal Life: Believe To Be Alive" by Lucas Kitchen. To see all of Lucas Kitchen's books go here.