Without faith!

(Hebrews 11:6) “And without faith it is impossible to please Him...”

Faith is such a vital side to the Christians life, without it we cannot please God, it is actually impossible. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

How often I have read a verse or verses and implied but not expressed what I have read, how much have I understood? Here is a classic verse I must have read and referred to a numerous amounts of times in my life, but to what extent have I embraced its teaching. Now faith is evident throughout the globe, we have considered this deliberation before and concluded that people have faith in all sorts of things. All faith means is to trust and believe in something especially without logical proof. Think of the “lucky rabbit foot” some although very few believe that it carries luck for them, so gamblers would look to unlock its magical lucky powers. Completely illogical! An individual with a rabbit foot normally on a key ring, looking to it for luck; how lucky was the rabbit? It couldn’t have been that lucky or else it might have escaped with its life. A classic example of misguided faith! Superstition and faith goes hand in hand for many, some with ridiculous rituals: I have heard that even some of our South African cricket players have a list of things that must be done in order to perform well. Toilet seats up instead of down, feet off the ground, etc!

Enough time spent on the trivial nonsense! What does God require from us and more specifically from His children? We obviously believe He exists, but do we sincerely believe that He will reward us if we seek Him out? This is another one of those left alone subjects because of the “name and claim” it doctrine that has come out of the hyper-charismatic movement. A skew to scripture and then many run from the truth of scripture. If only God would open our eyes just for a second to see the warfare that surrounds us, I think we would be far more diligent in seeking truth from scripture. Obviously we are faithful in part, or else we would have no direction in a perverse and wicked world, and yet we have direction because of the Spirit of truth which lives within us.

I remember after being newly saved going to a movie with an unsaved friend of mine and although I did not know much back then, my soul was deeply vexed by what I witnessed. It wasn’t as if I was watching an X-rated movie, it was a typical Hollywood block buster. I cannot remember the actual movie, but that is not relevant. My point is this; the movie was full of underlying stabs to the true God and Christianity. One of the most successful chains in movie history to date has been the Harry Potter movies. Yesterday, I watched it in the comfort of my home, without distraction and was drawn to a statement that was made as it is relevant to the feud we face as Christians. Good versus evil its theme, and as the evil leaders gathered around a table discussing their plot to eliminate the “chosen one”, Harry Potter a statement was thrown out with great glee and it went something like this. “There are rumours that we (the evil) have infiltrated the ministry” and then someone’s retort was, “at least they are right about that,” and then all around the table erupted with laughter!

I am not for one minute implying that the world has any sound doctrine to offer, as it does not! All I want us to recognised is the onslaught to it, even if it is with undertones, let us not be blind to our surrounding. There are many who try to infiltrate sound doctrine, with a perversion to the truth and as time ticks by this will not get better but worse! Even Satan appears as an angel of light!  “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. ” (2Corinthians 11:14-15)  

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2Timothy 4:3-4)

Although this is a fact and it will happen, that does not mean we should shy away from the truth but rather the more, run toward it.

Now back to our text; “without faith”, it is faith we must embrace with both arms and if we are already in the clinch, then we must squeeze even tighter. We must understand that although we may well have the first part of this text down; we believe in the only true God, because we have the Spirit of Christ that lives within us, we now must begin to appropriate the second half of this verse with more vigour and that is, we must believe that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him out. Let us not run from this truth because of the error we see amongst the charismata denominations but rather run toward it as if our lives depend upon it, as it does!

Let us learn from our forefathers; “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)     

We spend far too much time on worldly activities, even if it flies under the “banner of responsibilities.” I am not arguing that they do not have their place, but forget our opinions and let us rather look to the Word for direction; “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son.” (Hebrews 11:16-17) 

Will we offer up all we have and believe by faith that God will reward all those when tested, that He will look out for us? I wonder! I know my own heart in the matter, I am not sure I will pass the test. But that does not mean it is not what we have been called to do. May God give me strength to walk with the mindset of all mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11! May He be merciful to all who confess Jesus as Lord in this area of our lives!  

I leave us with this thought; remember to run toward the truth and not from it!

Signing off

Tyrone