Wednesday, January 21, 2015

What are you sure of?

Our memory verse this week comes from Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter. In fact, in my NIV Study Bible, the tile of the chapter is By Faith. What exactly are we to do "by faith?"

I think we must not only understand by faith that there is only One God who created the universe out of nothing (verse 3), but that fact must also propel us into action, by faith. All the great men and women listed in Hebrews 11 were commended for their faith (verse 39), not because they just said that they believed in God, but because they acted on their faith.

The difficult part is that while our obedience is commended, it is not always rewarded in this life. You only have to read verses 32 through 38 to see two very distinct groups of believers. The ones that escaped the edge of the sword and the ones that were sawed in two. I don't know about you, but I'd like to pick the escape group! Any Hall of Fame here on earth was not worthy of them (verse 38).

We grow up dreaming of getting into one of the Halls of Fame. We put the ones who do get in up on a pedestal. Have we considered teaching our children that God has planned something better for them (verse 40)?  I find myself more and more challenged in my faith, even after all these years of following Christ. God asks me to not only believe in Him, but obey Him by faith - without knowing the outcome. But I also find myself more and more sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see.

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