Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Living by Faith

One of my favorite hymns is Living by Faith. But what does it mean to live by faith? What does Paul mean in 2 Cor. 5 where he says we walk by faith, not by sight? Abraham walked by faith. When God told him to offer Isaac, the son of promise, as a sacrifice he didn't know HOW God would keep His promise, but he had faith that He would. Sight said there was no way he could kill Isaac and still have many descendents through Isaac. Faith said perhaps God will raise him up again.

We are faced with the same choice--walking by faith or by sight. You could really use a little extra money, but the only way to get it is to work on Sunday and miss worship. Yet the Lord has promised if we seek first the kingdom of heaven, He will provide for all of our needs. So, what do you do? Do you work Sunday (walk by sight) or do you trust that the Lord will provide (walk by faith)? You are ready to get married and settle down but there are no available prospects who are Christians. What do you do? Go ahead and marry the best one you can find (walk by sight) or wait on the Lord to find you a good one (walk by faith)? You are faced with two job offers; one will move you to an area where there is no church, but pays better. The other is in an area where there are a number of sound churches but doesn't pay quite as well. What would you do? Go with the one that pays better (walk by sight) or the one where the church is strong (walk by faith)?

Of course this same choice has to be made in many small details of our life as well. Is it more important for your children to be sports stars or strong Christians? Will God bless our efforts at talking to others about His Word?

So how do you live--by faith or by sight?

Tol

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