Great Church 3

Hebrews 11:1

When I worked as a corporate trainer for a large manufacturer, my job involved going to various buildings in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio area. Other members of the training team were supposed to have gone before me and placed the materials and books I needed for the training. But the first thing I was to do when I arrived at each location was to check to be sure I had what I needed.

Sadly, I learned that I couldn’t have a lot of faith in my co-workers.

Peter has challenged all believers to build on their faith, to move forward, to increase from being good to being great. But before we move forward perhaps we should more fully understand what faith really is. How does today’s passage describe faith?

This passage presents two different concepts – the concrete and the nebulous, the solid and the squishy. Faith is being “sure” and “certain.” That is the concrete. That is the solid. When we are sure and certain we have a firm belief, a strong conviction. I would say we have an unwavering, unyielding confidence and trust.

But that confidence is in uncertain things – “hope” and “what we do not see.” These are the nebulous, squishy aspects. Hope is an insubstantial vision of what we desire. That which we do not see is even less specific.

Faith is the confidence, the trust and conviction, that what we envision in our minds, and things we can’t even envision, are real. Our faith may be in God – someone we can’t see. Our faith may be in our own goodness – something we hope to achieve or maintain.

What is essential is that we have that conviction, that certainty of feeling in our hearts and souls, that these things are real and genuine. When we have faith that we can be holy and good, that we can serve the Lord, then these insubstantial ideas will become a reality. We can grow in our faith. We can grow as believers. We can live out the love of God.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What is your “hope” that needs to become a reality?