What is important is the object of your Faith

Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews eleven is called the faith chapter in your Bible, it is all about faith, the faith of some very great people, like Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and others that you may not be so familiar with.  I have come to believe that it is impossible to live life without faith!  In fact, I do not believe it requires a person to be a Christian to have faith.  I do believe that it is a gift from God and it was given to mankind to live life on planet earth.  Once we leave this life we will no longer require faith, it will not be of any value in heaven or hell. 

Have you ever observed a young child when his/her mother or dad tells them to jump into their arms from an elevation that seems extremely high to the child?  Or have you seen a parent telling the child in a swimming pool to trust them to not let go, or that they can ride their bike without the training wheels?  Where did that faith come from, surly the very young child has not been taught about faith.  You may be thinking that it was a learned trust, but what is that but faith?                                                                                                                                     

As stated above without faith life would be impossible on planet earth, as I begin my day, I put faith in the Canyon Lake water system that my water is not contaminated, that the gas-o-line I put into my car is the real stuff and that the other drivers around me will obey the laws and that the pilot of the plane will have the skills to both take off and land something that weighs tons and has small wheels.  So we all show-up with some faith, and it is not required to be a Christian to operate under faith.  And there in may lay the problem for many, they have never seen Christian faith.  They hear about it, but many have observed family members, friends, or neighbors, who make the faith claim of being a Christian, but saw little or no evidence of Christ in their life.  Form the letter of James, whom many believe refers to the brother of Christ, as the apostle Paul so stated, has this to say about faith; “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person that faith apart form works is useless?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” – and he was called a friend of God.”  (James 2:20-23)

So you and I who claim the name of Jesus Christ and go by the name Christians, must have an active faith, a faith that is alive and has total assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen.  If you have a very small faith in a very big God you are not unusual, in fact it might surprise you that your faith is in keeping with the apostles of Christ.  In Luke 17:5, “The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  So if you are like me in the faith department, you may want to look to Romans 10:17, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”  What the world is looking far is an active faith, they are not looking for you and I to do great things for God, and they are hoping to see God doing great things through you.  The apostle John had this to say on faith, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.  And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” (1 John 5:4)  It is so important to understand that faith is not the issue, no, what is important is the object of your faith.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice