By faith…
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation..” Hebrews 11:1-2
Living by faith is not for the half-hearted. It’s not meant to seem easy, and it’s not something we do by accident. Living by faith is for those who trust, who know there is Someone who knows more than they do, and who will change their lives based on that faith.
It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.
Sometimes we have faith, but we just don’t feel like it’s enough. The disciples even asked Jesus (after they heard how many times we should forgive each other) for him to increase their faith! (1) They knew that if they were going to live their lives like that, there would need to be a fortified faith.
It doesn’t take much! Right after the disciples asked this, Jesus mentioned we would only need to have faith as small as a mustard seed – a mustard seed that can be as small as 1 mm! But it’s not by our own strength. God gives us the strength. We just have to trust him.
And that’s what all of Hebrews 11 shows us: the many men and women who came before us who lived by faith. They were assured of what they hoped for, and they were convinced of the things that they could not see (2).
They were assured and convinced. It’s not half-hearted. It may not be easy and some days we might not feel like it’s enough, but our assuredness and conviction doesn’t have to be much. We just need to have faith.
So, instead of letting our hearts be troubled, we believe in God and his Son (3) and then we walk by faith (4), so at the end of time, along with those before us, we will be able to see the Author and Perfecter of our faith (5) face to face.
(1) Luke 17:5
(2) Hebrews 11:1
(3) John 14:6
(4) 2 Corinthians 5:7
(5) Hebrews 12:1-2
