Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Leviticus 14; Hebrews 11:1-19
Confidence in God – Hebrews 11:1-11 (CEB)
11 Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see. 2 The elders in the past were approved because they showed faith.
3 By faith we understand that the universe has been created by a word from God so that the visible came into existence from the invisible.
4 By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain, which showed that he was righteous, since God gave approval to him for his gift. Though he died, he’s still speaking through faith.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he didn’t see death, and he wasn’t found because God took him up.[a] He was given approval for having pleased God before he was taken up. 6 It’s impossible to please God without faith because the one who draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards people who try to find him.
7 By faith Noah responded with godly fear when he was warned about events he hadn’t seen yet. He built an ark to deliver his household. With his faith, he criticized the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes from faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out without knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived in the land he had been promised as a stranger. He lived in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were coheirs of the same promise. 10 He was looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith even Sarah received the ability to have a child, though she herself was barren and past the age for having children, because she believed that the one who promised was faithful.
What does this passage mean to me/us? Contributed by Audry Sistler
Faith is confidence in what we hope for.” (NIV) “Faith is the reality of what we hope for.”(CEB) A combined statement might be: Faith is the confidence in the reality of what we hope for. Faith in what? Too often I put my faith in my own abilities. If I’ve worked hard on a project and planned carefully, I am confident in the reality that what I hope for will happen. But no, the author of Hebrews wants to encourage us to have faith in God, giving us a list concrete examples of people who trusted in God’s faithfulness.
I’m glad Sarah is on that list. As I get older, I relate more to 90-year-old Sarah’s laughing reaction to the news that she would have a baby (Genesis 18:12). I likely would have said, “Yeah, right. I don’t think so!” Yet, despite her initial response, later when God gave her Isaac, she said, “God has brought laughter for me.” (Genesis 21:6) She recognized the baby didn’t come because of her own abilities, but because of God’s faithfulness. The baby she’d hoped for had become reality after many, many years. To me her laughter indicates she’d given up on her own abilities and maybe wasn’t sure about God’s. But God honored her little bit of faith and gave her Isaac. And she got put on the list.
Prayer
Dear God, Thank you for Sarah and the others with faith who remind us that we, too, can have faith in You. May we not put our faith in ourselves but be like them. May we have confidence in the reality that You are faithfully at work in our lives even if we’ve hoped and waited a long time like Sarah. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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