For the past few days, I’ve been really into the Book of Hebrews. The whole book is fabulous, but I want to focus on chapter 11. This chapter is called, “The Faith Chapter”…it’s composed of people whose lives were great examples of how to live, and spoke volumes of great faith.In my own words…faith is having confidence that what God says is true. It’s knowing that everything He promises is going to happen. But here’s the key… it’s believing He knows what’s best. He has a good plan, regardless of the circumstances and how they look. He will do what He says.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who comes to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.” (To further answer the question about the fate of those who haven’t heard about Christ… my Bible commentary tells me that God assures us that all who honestly seek Him – who act in faith on the knowledge of God that they possess – will be rewarded. On the other hand, those who hear the Good News are responsible for what they have heard.)
- Faith defies logic
- Faith is always criticized
- Faith is always rewarded
God wants our trust and faith, even while we ponder, wonder, and try to wrap our heads around many mysterious things. We definitely need to use our minds to think things through, but we also have to leave room for the awesome and unexplainable works of God. As my friend, Jeff Swineheart (The Thousand Faces of God – Nicean Magazine, http://nicean-prose.blogspot.com), said so very well…” No amount of words ever written will ever convince you to believe. Faith comes from within. You will never be truly free, unless you finally take that leap.”