I dare you to read Hebrews 11 without becoming excited. My mind begins to wander off, imagining the impossible deeds accomplished by ordinary men and women from long ago. One thing I find in common in every story: they were always looking forward. Abraham had every right to say that the promise wasn’t fulfilled (the one about having many descendants) because he only had one son…and his son Isaac had two boys. It’s going to take a long time to have innumerable descendants that way. But Abraham would never consider thinking he hadn’t received the promise…because his vision was much longer than most. It occurs to me today that what these men had that many of us don’t is the ability to see how current events will unfold…maybe not even “seeing” it so much as simply “believing” that God is going to use what is happening now, regardless of how bleak it looks.
Faith is the “evidence of things hoped for”. What does that mean? I think it simply means that I choose to act based on what I believe. My actions are the evidence of what I hope will come true. Anyone who invests money in the stock market does so in faith. A person who buys a house to flip does so in faith. We have children, believing that they will grow to outlive us, and have better lives than we did. If we didn’t believe it, then we wouldn’t have children. We have children expecting that they will be born healthy.
Here’s my thought. We are already people of faith. We were created to operate by faith, and in some arena we do so every day. Every time you get into a car, or onto an airplane you take a step of faith. Every new job is a step of faith. You don’t know what the future holds…but you make decisions now based on what you hope will happen.
And so it is with following after Christ. The Bible was written to give us a glimpse of the future, and to awaken hope within us. Jesus rose from the dead to awaken hope. He ascended into heaven with a promise that He would come back…hope for a better future roared to life in us. If we believe what the Bible is saying, then we will make our decisions based on our belief in the return of Christ.
I choose not to steal, to lie, to pursue lusts…because I know that God will punish all such behavior when He returns. I have faith in that. Instead, I choose to read my Bible, to bring up God in conversation, to make every effort to keep myself pure, to stay in fellowship with other believers…because I have faith that God will reward that behavior when He returns.
I am completely convinced that God will judge each and every one of us, and if we are found forgiven my His Son Jesus, and have remained faithful, we will hear the words “well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your master’s rest”. It hasn’t happened before…but neither had a world wide flood. One day it will, and the people who have been operating by faith in Christ will be rewarded.
Serving,
PR