Keeping the Faith
- Okay, so you gotta have faith. But what is faith? We're glad you asked.
- In probably one of the most famous verses in this book, the author tells us, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
- Huh?
- Basically, it just means that, if we have faith, then we know for sure that everything we're hoping for and dreaming of will eventually come true. Even though we can't see the path ahead of us, faith tells us the road will be a smooth one.
- In other words: if you believe it, you will achieve it.
- All the stars of the Hebrew Bible had faith, the author tells us. The author name-drops a ton of them to prove his point: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, and martyrs. Basically a who's-who of the faithful.
- Just one thing: these folks all died before God gave the world Jesus.
- But Jesus' saving death applies to them, too. Even though they didn't know about it, they still lived their lives the way God wanted them to.
- That means they're all square with the big guy.