Hebrews, Day 5
Live by Faith Under a Better Example (Hebrews 11 – 12)
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:1 – 3).
What is faith? If you happened to read the verses above, you would know exactly what faith is. Faith is knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that something is true, even without seeing it. We are not talking about “blind faith” here. We are talking about faith in God and living our lives in a way that shows others that we know He exists.
Other than God, what is something you have faith in? Maybe you have faith in your vehicle, that it will start when you turn the key or push the button. I had a vehicle once that I did not have much faith in. I made sure to stay local because it had failed me so many times and had left me stranded more than once. I was not too sad the day I sold it for scrap, and I now have a vehicle that I know will get me to where I want to go. I have faith.
The author then lists several people in Israel’s past that had faith. There was Abraham who left his family without knowing exactly where he was going, and Rahab, a foreigner who had faith in God based on what she had seen and heard about the God of Israel. When you read through this list, do you notice something that everyone had in common? They were all sinful humans and yet they all had faith. Sometimes, we think that we could never have the amount of faith that Noah had, who spent 100 years building the first boat anyone had ever seen. How ridiculous does that sound? He built the ark because he had faith. He was human just like us.
You and I can have this kind of faith as well. We are mortals just like they are. Actually, because we are on this side of Jesus’ birth, we have more evidence to have great faith. We have more proof that God is real than these Old Testament saints did. So, how do we get this faith?
Hebrews 12:1 – 2 gives us the answer:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We need to stay focused on Jesus and His work for us on the cross and not get distracted by everything around us. It’s easy to focus on the here and now, on our jobs, and on what this world has to offer. We can spend so much time and energy on the things of this world that we do not have any time left to focus on eternity. Besides, eternity is a long way off; or at least we think it is. So, what are you focusing on right now? If you are focusing on earthly things, refocus on heaven and get ready to experience great faith!
Pastor David Guenin