Faith in a Sure Thing

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

FAITH IN A SURE THING

Heb 11:1-3

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

NIV

Is seeing really believing? Is it just people who live in one state have to be shown? Why do so many people believe so much that is said or written by so many others, but have such a difficult time believing what those men of the past wrote as they were inspired by the Spirit? Most people believe by faith in all the history books that are written, even if they were written by men who were not there to personally experience the events they write about. Yet these same people refuse to believe the history written about by men who were there to personally experience the events. These people have faith their car will start in the morning, they have faith in the stock market to improve their financial security, but of course these are things they can see. But to have faith and be sure that what we hope for will happen and to be certain of it, even though we cannot see any evidence of it, that is really faith. Yet do we really not see any evidence of it? All we have to do is step outside at night and glance up at the wonderful universe.  Or we could stand outside during the day and observe the trees, the bushes, the flowers along with all the birds, the bees and the bugs that so enjoy all that greenery. And if we are hard pressed to get to far away places to enjoy the wildlife of God’s handiwork, or spend hours diving beneath the great oceans, we need only visit a zoo or an aquarium. All of nature that we can personally experienced is a result of God’s hand forming something from nothing, making it out of what was not visible. This is why he said that what may be known about Him is plain from what He made, so that no man is without excuse. For all of time man has had the opportunity to know God, to exhibit faith in Him. Although we can see all that He made, we see at this time in history, the we have not actually seen Jesus Christ in the flesh. We have not actually seen the new city of Jerusalem where we will spend eternity with Him. We still have not seen eternal life, as we are yet confined to this decaying body which is destined to die someday and be laid to rest. So in order to believe in those things which are to come we actually do need faith in what we hope for and are certain of what we have not seen. That seems simple enough, right? If we look back over our lives and remember all those times when a miracle was right there for us, when God intervened in the course of our life. If we remember all the times, He provided a way, when He provided a means and when He provided protection, it would truly seem a simple thing to have faith in what else is to come from His hand. Faith in a sure thing, doesn’t seem like faith, but faith it is.