Oct 30, 2018
Faith that pleases God
is the person who comes to him believing that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him. Heb 11:6
Faith isn't just what
we believe about God, it is our effort in pursuing Him and pleasing Him.
Words are powerful – and we lose their power when we misuse
them.
I’m not talking about using foul language (although it
applies to that topic, along will sarcasm, backbiting, and more). What I’m talking about is ‘bad’ language –
misusing words to satisfy our desires. Misuse happens with exaggerations, misleading
statements, and even with a lack of words.
But maybe the greatest misuse comes when we change the word from one
type to another, like making a noun out of a verb or an adjective out of a
noun.
Take the word: Christian.
Over centuries, we have taking a word that labeled action, and turned it
into an adjective. Now we have Christian
t-shirts, Christian music, Christian books and more. But Christian was not a word designed to be
an adjective. It came from people
calling others “little Christs”. It was
supposed to be a noun. We are not
supposed to have Christian descriptions in our life. We are supposed to BE Christian. The word has lost its power.
Maybe one of the biggest misuses is with the word
Faith. Somewhere along the way, faith
switched from being an action verb to being a personal noun. The Bible talks about faith as action – a belief
that is displayed in our activity. Even
James says that faith without action is dead (aka. It’s really not faith.)
But over time, we’ve changed faith into a noun, or sometimes
even an adjective. People use the word
to describe personal beliefs that change with circumstances. We hear people talk about ‘their faith’ as an
inactive thought – ie. “I have my faith” ; “I believe in Jesus, but just don’t see the
need for church (or studying the Bible, or serving others, or giving …)” ; “You
have your faith, and I have mine.”
Let’s be real --- faith that changes with circumstances is
not FAITH at all. It’s just like that rudderless
boat that moves back and forth with the waves of the sea. Using the word to describe your personal
beliefs is powerless, unless of course your beliefs never change and always get
displayed.
God is not impressed with our claims to have faith, He goes
by what He SEES us doing. To God, faith
is ongoing action based on a belief, even when the evidence or circumstances
would have you act differently. Hebrews
11 is a catalog of people whose faith was a VERB – it lists their actions!
What does God think about your faith and my faith? Is it an ongoing action, or just an
occasionally professed thought? Are you
faithful … or do you just talk about ‘having a faith’? Don’t waste the power of the word! Faith is BEING --- it’s living out daily in
action what you believe about God.
Where do you need to BE FAITHFUL with God today?
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