Christians believe that God’s primary purpose in their lives
is for them to live by faith. When Christians live by faith, they focus on
doing what God wants – fulfilling the Great Commission, worshiping him, and
staying away from sin.
Living by faith is easy when times are going good, but it’s
much harder when circumstances are uncertain. And, unfortunately, God doesn’t
always tell all of the answers as much as you and I would often like him to. The
reason for that isn’t because he overlooks them or because he’s trying to make
life hard. Rather, Christians believe that he does this because he wants people
to trust in and rely on him more and more, which happens when they live by
faith.
Living lives of faith must somehow produce the sort of
people whom God wants to be with for eternity. If being a Christian required no
faith, the Church would be a bunch of smug know-it-alls who made their
decisions much like they solve math problems. But such a rationalization doesn’t
involve a change of character or inner transformation. Instead, living by faith
forces Christians to rely on God, forget about themselves, serve others, and
ultimately become more and more like Christ in how they live their lives. In other
words, faith is the foundation for the Christian walk.
Clutching four keys to living out your faith
Hebrews 11 is a chapter that focuses entirely on faith and
offers insights on how exactly to live out your faith. (Mosey on over to Chapter
19 for more on this key passage of scripture.) This chapter is often called the
Hall of Faith, because of its focus on highlighting the faith of some of the
great Old Testament believers. When you read through the chapter, you discover
the many ways that its subjects expressed their faith and you further get a
grasp on what living by faith means. The chapter starts with a simple
definition: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.”
You can discover four keys to living out the Christian faith
from this single verse. I discuss these in the sections that follow.
Cling to what the Bible says is true about God
According to Hebrews 1:1, faith is the assurance of things
hoped for. The Greek word for assurance is the same as foundation, much like
the foundation of a house. Therefore, this assurance is at the base of the
Christian life, centered on who they believe God is. Perhaps nowhere does the
Bible express this assurance more clearly than in the account of the Roman
centurion (a military commander) in Matthew 8:5-13:
When Jesus came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him,
asking him, and saying, “Lord, my servant lies in the house paralyzed,
grievously tormented.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to
come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am
also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’
and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and tell my servant, ‘Do
this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to those who
followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not
even in Israel...” Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Let it be done
for you as you have believed.” His servant was healed in that hour.
The centurion’s matter-of-fact nature reveals his inner
assurance. He knew that all Christ had to do was say the words and the disease
would obey him – in the same way the centurion’s soldiers obeyed the centurion.
Christians believe that Jesus calls each of them to have
that same faith in him. But the reality is that although most Christians do a
reasonable job of trusting God for all that life-after-death business, they act
no different from nonbelievers on matters that hit closer to home during times
of crises.
Focus your attention completely on God
According to Hebrews 1:1, faith is certainty in things hoped
for and things not seen. By definition, then, these things are those you don’t
see, touch, or feel – the spiritual world, future events, and God’s sovereignty
and control. Hebrews also implies that they will happen in the future. In spite
of this, Christians believe that they’re every bit as real as the physical
world in front of you.
The way that you stay focused on these future hopes is by
wearing blinders. Blinders are those funny-looking black contraptions that you
see on the heads of some horses; they prevent the horses from being distracted or
scared or from drifting off their paths. In the same way, when you wear
blinders, you focus your attention on God and don’t become distracted with the
possibilities, consequences, and circumstances around you.
Don’t confuse this faith with head-in-the-sand thinking. Blinders
don’t cover the eyes of the horses but focus their eyes on the destination. Therefore,
true biblical faith isn’t blind faith, but faith that’s focused entirely on
God.
Noah was a man who demonstrated this type of faith. Imagine being
called by God to spend decades building a single boat. It takes a lot of faith
to spend years and years doing the same thing before seeing how it all works
out. But Noah’s situation was even harder than that. You see, prior to the
Flood, the Bible says that it never rained on earth. Therefore, Noah built a
boar on dry land in a world that never had any rain. Obviously, his neighbours
probably teased him for thousands of days over this folly. Yet, through it all,
Noah held firm and did what God told him to do. Hebrews 11:7 says:
By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen,
moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, through
which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is
according to faith.
Noah required no evidence of what was to come. It was a
matter of simple trust and obedience. (For the whole story, check out Genesis
6-9.)
Abraham was another man in the Old Testament who lived his
life with spiritual blinders on. He left his home without knowing where he was
going (Genesis 12:1-4, Hebrews 11:8), giving up security for insecurity. But he
also lived like a nomad by faith, relying on God on an ongoing basis for his
needs (Genesis 12, Hebrews 11:9). In addition, God challenged Abraham’s
faithfulness by testing his willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, his only
link to God’s promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations (Genesis
15, Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham passed the test with flying colours, because he
was certain that God would keep his promise, even if that meant bringing Isaac
back to life.
Check out Table 13-1 to find out more about these heroes of
the faith, as well as others.
Never ever stop walking
When you’re walking in faith, you shouldn’t be like a kid on
a car trip – always saying, “Are we there yet?” God calls Christians to
persevere whether they see him working or not. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
are three examples of people who were faithful regardless of circumstances. King
Nebuchadnezzar was about to throw the trio into a fiery furnace for refusing to
bow down to the gods he worshiped when they said to him:
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve
is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even
if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods
or worship the image of gold you have set up.
-Daniel 3:17-18
Job set another prime example of faithfulness. When literally
everything was going through in his life, he didn’t whine and say, “Why me?”
Instead, he said, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). Not that
God was actually out to get Job, but Job was saying that regardless of what
happened, he would hope in the Lord.
Leave foot tracks of your Christian walk
Hebrews 1:1 talks about faith as having evidence of things
not seen. But consider a different spin on the word evidence. When you look at
the lives of people who have great faith, you always see evidence of their
faith in their lives. Both Noah and Abraham, for example, left foot tracks
showing their walks of faith. Noah’s ark was tangible evidence of his
assurance. Abraham’s risky life of adventure served as proof of what he knew to
be true.
Therefore, in your Christian walk, look to see what evidence
you’re leaving that practically demonstrates what you believe to be true. Take stock
of where you are by asking yourself:
Would someone around me find any proof of my faith in how I
make decisions or in how I act?
Have I ever gone out on a limb to follow God in regard to
any specific decisions or situations in my life, without knowing how it would
all turn out?
Do I trust God even when it seems like he’s not nearby?
After you’ve assessed where you are, prayerfully consider
how you can show more evidence of your faith in your Christian walk.
How Old Testament Believers Lived Out Their Faith
Hall of Faith Member: Abel
How That Person Expressed His or Her Faith: Offered a
sacrifice by faith
In This Example, Living by Faith Means...: Brining honour to
God
Enoch
Pleased God
Producing righteousness
Noah
Built an ark
Consistently following God’s call no matter what the odds
are
Abraham
Left his home without knowing where he was going/Lived like
a nomad by faith/Prepared to sacrifice his son/Relied on God continually
Giving up security and doing whatever God asks
Sarah
Had a child when barren
Knowing God is faithful and trustworthy
Moses’ parents
Hid Moses from authorities
Having certainty of God’s hand in the events of this world
Moses
Refused to be known as the son of the Pharaoh
Risking a life of ease and comfort for a life of hardship
Israelites
Passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land
Knowing God can perform miracles in the world
Faithful ones
Faithful without seeing the promises that God gave them
Persevering no matter what the results are
No comments:
Post a Comment