What is Faith? - Hebrews 11
Most of us have at one time or another misused faith. We often wave our faith in God’s face thinking that it is the means by which we get God to give us what we want. We treat faith as a ‘spiritual magic wand’ - which we wave and God does what we wish.
The problem is actually in our understanding of faith. We comprehend that faith is essential to living a Christian life. We are “saved by grace through faith.” “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” “The righteous live by faith.” But, faith is not the means to get what we want from our heavenly Father. It is not the spiritual token which we place in the ‘heavenly vending machine’ so we can make our selection.
As Christ followers, we must break free from the self-centered narrow mindedness of this world. We need to understand that our faith in Christ connects us with something far greater than ourselves. The individuals mentioned in this chapter died with a living faith, not fully realizing the promise but they knew God’s purposes encompassed far more than themselves and their own present situations.
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as: “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith sees what the naked eye cannot. Faith sees beyond the pitfalls and materialism of this existence. Faith has an eternal perspective. Faith is the assurance, the realization, the certainty of what is not seen by the human eye – yet is visible – through ‘faith eyes’.
When we follow Christ we are afforded such eyes. However, many folks have allowed this power to atrophy from lack of use. This function allows us to see the eternal rather than the temporary - - the real rather than the fleeting. This is why Paul advises us to: “Fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” [2nd Corinthians 4:18]
Faith is not mere belief; it is real, genuine, and authentic – that we are sure in Whom we trust and live for. May your faith be strengthened.
I love you!
Stay faithful and finish strong,
dale
This makes me think of the story of the good Samaritan. How many times have we had the opportunity to help someone in need and drove or walked on by them (maybe even thinking something like “Get a job dude.”)? I need to have the kind of faith to be His hands and feet in all those situations that I’m presented with. Oh how I may reap spiritual benefits if I allowed myself to be stretched and used in those ways! Thanks for challenging us Dale! I love you buddy