Faith

Lately, I have been reading Genesis. I have been reading about Abraham and how he was faithful no matter what. Even when he didn’t understand, he still obeyed God and did what he was told. He also led his wife to do the same. He wasn’t thinking about what he would gain from obeying or even what people thought of him; he was simply doing what he was asked. There was always a fear of the unknown hanging over everything God told Abraham to do, but Abraham didn’t hesitate.

But before we go on, let’s answer a simple question: what is faith? This is what Hebrews 11 verse 1 says faith is:

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Do you agree with that?

Let’s take a look at what is said about Abraham about 3,000 years later in Hebrews chapter 11 verses 8 through 12, and 17 through 19.

Hebrews 11: 8-12, 17-19

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

You can see here how Abraham was faithful to God through it all. God told him to move away from his home country into a foreign land, and he told him that he would have a son in his old age. And a few years after his miracle child was born to him, Abraham was told to sacrifice his own son. Though I wouldn’t like to admit it, I don’t think I would be as willing as Abraham was to do what God told me. What about you?

There are dozens of people listed in this chapter, but I just want to finish off by reading the last nine verses.

Hebrews 11:32-40

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword;whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

All these forms of persecution seem inhumane, but it really happened. I’m going to read one last verse, Hebrews 11:13.

Hebrew 11:13

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

I want to leave you with this thought. Are you going to be faithful until you die, even if you are persecuted for what you believe in and may not see the benefits in your lifetime?

#Older #Scriptures