Dusty, the Crop Dusting plane, spends most of his days dreaming of becoming a great air racer. But his fear of heights keeps him flying low. However, when a veteran aviator helps him qualify for a race against the champ, he musters the faith to enter the race.
Everyone has faith. You go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce. He gives you a prescription you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen. He gives you medication you do not understand — and yet, you take it.” Now, that is living by Faith!
The fact is, we can’t get through a single day without living by Faith. When you flip a light switch you put faith in the electrical wiring. When you turn the ignition switch in your car, you trust the motor. When you mail a letter you have faith in the US Mail Service. Sometimes — of course —- your faith might be misplaced. Because faith is only as valuable as the OBJECT of that faith.
The same is true with Spiritual Faith. Buddhists have faith in Buddha. Muslims trust in Allah. Hindus believe in various Gods (thousands actually.) Most religious people put faith in their ability to keep the rules … to be “good enough” to satisfy their god — or reach their Nirvana — or build up good Karma.
Even when people claim no religion at all, they still live by faith. Every human puts faith in something. It may be in some notion of human potential. It may be in the supremacy of science or reason or political power. Or they may have faith in some vague concept like “oneness with nature.” But everyone lives by faith.
What is Biblical Faith?
Hebrews 11:1 tells us “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen.” A.W. Tozer: “Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent.”
Faith is NOT a blind leap in the dark. Some people think you have to ignore logic and reason in order to believe in God. The fact is, believing there is NO God requires an unreasonable kind of faith.
Faith is NOT the ability to manipulate God. Some Christians think Faith is a kind of magic medicine potion. You can name it and claim it … blab it and grab it …
Faith is NOT adherence to a list of doctrines. Faith is not knowing all the right facts and learning all the right rules.
Biblical Faith is a relationship with a personal God. That’s why Hebrews 11 gives a whole list of people who put their trust in God. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses and many others had a personal relationship with God and showed that relationship in the decisions they made.
Do you have faith?
How has your life revealed the faith you have?
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