Hebrews 11:1-3
Verse 1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Yesterday we were talking about making sure that God is holding the top place in our hearts. One of the ways we can know that He is in the top spot of our heart is how willing we are to put our faith in Him and His plan.
This chapter in Hebrews is well known by its moniker “the faith chapter” and lists many examples of people throughout history that showed faith in God in various situations. The author of this book knew that the best way to help the Jewish born people to know that Jesus was the Messiah was to show them how history had pointed to Him. But when he comes to chapter 11 he shows how the various heroes of the faith lived and how that pointed to Christ.
When our lives exhibit our faith it will also point to Christ and that is one reason it is so important to be living lives of faith. One of the best ways we can live for eternity is by walking in faith. When we know that God has something He wants us to do and take that step of faith we will be showing that He is worthy of our trust. This is a message that the world needs if they are to see God in an eternal way. Just as the heroes in this chapter are examples for us, we can be the light that reveals the Lord.
One thing about faith is that no two stories are the same. If we read through this list we would be given a tour through moments of people being asked to move away from family without knowing the final destination, people being asked to offer sacrifices, a man and his sons being called to build a huge ship when there wasn’t enough water to launch it. A man making his descendants promise to take his bones with them when God took them to the Promised Land, The stories continue with just as many different ways faith was lived out and that allows us to know that the faith we will need to show in our lives could appear in ways that we would not expect.
The thing we need to remember is that this faith isn’t something to just think or talk about, it is a matter of taking action. After all, faith is about acting on what we know we should do even when we don’t see the final answer to our questions. It is moving towards where God has directed without seeing the full picture.
Making It Personal
What have you stepped out in faith about? What is God asking you to step out in faith about today? What is holding you back from trusting God fully enough to step out in faith?
Making It Personal Kids
How would you describe what faith means? Do you have faith in Jesus? How do you show your faith?
Closing Prayer
Father, true trust in You is shown by true faith being lived out. Give us the courage and understanding we need to take the needed steps of faith that will bring You the glory You deserve. In Jesus’ name, amen.