Read: Hebrews 11
This chapter has often been called “The Faith Chapter”. The first
verse tells us what faith is: Faith is the absolute belief in something we
can’t see, so much so that it affects and changes our behavior.
Many times we read the definition of faith and feel inadequate. We
feel like we want to have faith like
all these mighty Bible characters, but we don’t think we have that kind of
faith. We think, “I could never do what those Bible characters did.” We look at
some Christians around us who are living victoriously, with faith, through very
difficult circumstances and we think, “I do not have faith like that person.”
We need to notice a very important detail in this chapter.
Abel’s faith allowed him to give God an acceptable gift. Some of us
have this kind of faith, and we practice it every payday, or every week, when
we put our tithes and offering into the basket as it comes by. Abraham had
enough faith to nearly sacrifice his son on an altar! It would be easy to look
at Abraham and run in fear because we don’t have that kind of faith. Jacob’s
faith allowed him to give a blessing to Joseph’s sons before he died. Moses, by
faith, gave up luxurious palace living to lead a nation of slaves.
Take note that Abel was not asked to sacrifice a child; and Jacob
didn’t lead a nation through a desert for 40 years. Yet God didn’t allow
Abraham to get by with just giving tithes and offerings, and Moses couldn’t get
away with saying a few blessings over the Hebrews in Egypt. God required of
each of them according to the measure of faith they had!
Abraham’s journey of faith took him from leaving a modern city, to
living in tents, to believing God would give him a son, to sacrificing that
son. Faith grows as we live in obedience to what God asks of us. Notice that
Abel is in this chapter that talks about the heroes of the faith and his most
heroic act of faith was tithing!
Our measure of faith is based on who we have faith in. All these
heroes were commended for their faith not because what they did was so amazing,
but because they chose to believe God even when it made no sense and they
couldn’t see a good outcome.
This gives us much hope! We can have heroic faith today if we fix our
eyes on Jesus so our hearts learn to believe the truth of God and the eternity
that awaits us in heaven. Today when we choose to live as if heaven and its glorious
reward will truly be given to us, we join the ranks of the Hebrews 11 Heroes.
Tomorrow, when the stakes are just a little higher, we choose to live that way
again. We teach our hearts to yearn for heaven. We grow SO in love with heaven
and the promise of being with God and enjoying His reward that it becomes
easier and easier to go through difficult times with great faith.
Verses 15-16a explain how these heroes grew their faith. They trained
their thoughts on the right place. “If they had been thinking of that land
from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a
heavenly one.” They chose not to think about what they were
giving up but what they were gaining. Many times we fall back into sin, or end
up giving up, and losing faith simply because we were concentrating on the
pain, the suffering, the loss, the difficulty, rather than what we will
experience if we overcome just this once! And then just this once… one more
time. And again. And again.
Heroes of the faith have their eyes on the
promise of God. Verse 6 says we can’t have faith if we don’t draw near to God, believe
He exists, and that He loves us so much He will keep His promise to reward us.
This is why it’s important to make time with God a priority. When we draw near
to Him, experience His love and hear Him confirm the promise, we will grow in
faith.
Journaling and Prayer
1.
Ask God to remind you of a few things you’ve done out of faith. Thank
Him for the practice you’ve had to live in faith. Ask the Lord to remind you of
something you did or didn’t do out of a lack of faith. Confess this to the Lord
and ask Him to give you a word or promise today that you can hold onto for the
next time you need faith.
2.
Take time to evaluate how you’re doing with the steps of growing your
faith, ask for the Holy Spirit’s input:
a.
Spending time with God.
b.
Believing He exists.
c.
Experiencing His love.
d.
Hearing His promise.
e.
Thinking about heaven instead of circumstances.
3.
Thank God for making it possible to be a hero of the faith today. Spend
time thinking about heaven. Ask Him to give you a word, thought, or picture to
motivate you and remind you to keep your eyes on heaven.
