"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. . . But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."
-Hebrews 11: 13- 16
We often think of faith as blindly taking a chance believing God will intervene in some way. But true faith is so much more than that. It's knowing who God is and trusting He WILL do what He says He will do. Faith is knowing God is not a liar or a deceiver, and when He makes a promise He keeps it. (See Numbers 23:19) A great example set out for us in this chapter of Hebrews is the life of Abraham (v. 8 -12). When God promised to make a great nation of him, Abraham had faith. (Genesis 17) Even though he did not live to see all the generations descending from his son Isaac, he trusted that God meant what He said. Abraham trusted the covenant God made with him would go unbroken. He like so many others "saw and embraced God's promises from afar" (Hebrews 11:13) Having that kind of confidence in God's character and word is something we should all strive for in our own relationship with Him.
Noah, Moses, and Rahab are just a few more of those credited in Hebrews 11 with having tremendous faith. These individuals were called to follow God's instruction leaving behind the life they knew in exchange for something far greater. As believers we too are called to abandon our ties to the world in pursuit of God's Kingdom knowing we will one day enter the place He has prepared for us.
We could go on all day about the many men and women praised in this chapter, but the Cliff Notes version is this: They all knew God could be trusted and believed without a shadow of a doubt the promises He made would be fulfilled. The greatest of those promises being the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Though they did not live to see it, they all looked ahead to the day when God would provide the Way for man's redemption and restoration. A few more scriptures I encourage you to look into on this topic are 1 Peter 1:8, Joshua 21:45, and Romans 1: 1-5. I hope this short devotion blessed you, and I hope you have a great rest of your day!
Thank you for reading! I hope revisiting this short devotion from the Fall 2021 Newsletter encouraged you today. I pray you continue to grow in faith as you pursue a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.