November 9, 2024

Passage Read: Hebrews 11-12
Meditation Verses: 11:1-2

Thought

By faith, the men of old gained approval. By faith, believing God, they not only adjusted their thinking, but changed their lives, their behavior, attempted impossible things and succeeded. Because they believed God when He spoke and did what He asked. They believed that He was God and had authority to command them and to fulfill what He promised--even when they did not see those promises fulfilled in their own lifetimes! They believed God would make good on every promise, whether they lived to see it or not. That is faith that pleases God and makes Him unashamed to call them His own.

Application

By faith I too can be pleasing to God, I too can gain His approval, I too can be one of whom He is unashamed to call His own. I need to not merely believe that God is, but that everything He commands is my duty and everything He promises will come to be. No matter what I must lose or give up in order to obey Him, I must lose or give it up, in full confidence that He will repay me for my obedience, my faith. Faith and obedience, you cannot separate them! Belief in God requires a response that changes how we live. It requires acceptance of all that God has revealed; it demands everything! And it changes everything: what I value, what I seek, how I act, how I speak, even what I think. And when I live to seek that heavenly country and the approval of God, the pleasures and treasures of this world fade away.