Fell behind again. Readings for 3/27/08 are Exodus 17.1-16 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+17.1-16 ) and Hebrews 11.1-29 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Heb.+11.1-29 ).
Hebrews 11.1-3 sums up both readings. "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. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible" (ESV).
Faith is not some sort of blind leap. It isn't some sort of poorly defined hope that everything will work out all right one way or another. It isn't some sort of mystical thing we can pump up ourselves to a sufficient level to accomplish something.
What is faith, then? It's a gift of God. And in this gift, God gives us assurance. He tells us that all his promises are true. He tells us that the world really does work the way he said it does. This is faith. It is clearly defined, though it is not measurable. It is solid and sure. It is built on the promises of God, not on our transient hopes.
As we look at the various people of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, and as we look at the works of faith in Exodus 17, we see that all those people were people like us, full of sinful desires and full of faults. The critical issue is not the quality of the person's faith. It's the quality of the person's God. In other words, faith is not really useful for anything. But the object of faith is critical.
Let us look to Jesus, the object of our faith. Let us trust in his ability to bring all things to pass according to his will, as he always has in the past. Let us trust in his wisdom. Then we have assurance. We know that while we are faithless, he remains faithful. When we doubt, we know that God's ability has never changed or decreased. Walk in faith - faith in Christ.
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