This I Believe:  Faith is a Necessary Thing

Friday, February 5, 2016

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is made up of the things for which you confidently wait, it is the promise of what you cannot see.  {Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of that which you cannot see.}

Anything I can prove or guarantee does not require faith.  If I can control it and warranty that it will be so, then that’s not faith either.  Faith is a place in your being that says, “I believe this though I cannot prove it; I trust it though I cannot see it.”

Scripture tells us, without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).  Why is that?  Why would we need faith to please God?  We have never seen Jesus but we have faith He is.  No one has ever seen God, but countless men and women, in many faiths, trust that God is.  We are told of a life in a realm called heaven, but no one has ever returned to offer us a map of the place.  Still we long to make heaven our home.  All of this requires faith.

And our faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8).  It is given to us freely and we are invited to develop it.  In fact, I think of faith as a muscle.  We develop it as we gather and worship, as we study and pray, as we struggle and become more resilient.  May our faith muscle be exercised and strengthened, in our worship and in our lives, and may we use it in ways pleasing to God