Answers for Each Day - June 4, 2008

The Nature of Faith

In our last devotional, we talked about how important faith is to pleasing God.  It is not just important, it’s essential, because without it, you and I cannot please God.

The natural question is, “What is faith?”

In Hebrews 11:1, the writer gives us the technical definition of biblical faith,

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith deals with unseen reality.  In fact, Weymouth’s translation says, “Faith is a conviction of the reality of things we do not see.”

You might think, “That’s a nice definition, but what does that really mean?”  That is a good question.  And it is answered by the examples given in Hebrews 11, which show different ways people expressed their faith in God, because there is not just one way to demonstrate faith in God:

• Abel shows us that faith is giving our best to God.  He deserves our first and our best.
• Enoch shows us that faith is walking with God.  It is living a life in constant connection with God, even when you can’t sense or feel Him.
• Noah shows us that faith is making preparations as though Christ is coming back today, even when there is seemingly no evidence.
• Abraham shows us that faith is obeying God, even though you may not know where He is leading you.
• Sarah shows us that faith is receiving God’s promise, even when public opinion says, “No way!”
• Moses shows us that faith is living life in light of eternity, and allowing that focus to affect all of life’s decisions.

Commit today to live this life of faith.  If you do, you will truly please God! 

Visit the Answers with Bayless Conley website for more ways to Connect with God