If you missed the quasi-obscure 80s music reference in the title, I give you George Michael:
I sincerely apologize for that. But man, can that guy play guitar. Chris, take notice.
(FYI, for a pretty awesome version of the song, check out the 10 year old Limp Bizkit cover here. I absolutely DESPISE Limp Bizkit and absolutely LOVE that cover. And please excuse some of the questionable stuff in the video.)
This week we’ve got a massive chunk of text to sink our teeth into, and the overriding theme is faith. And is there any single word more relevant to what we are about as Christians?
Hebrews says that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. What that means is that we largely base our lives on a hope that is not yet realized. Even though our beliefs are rooted in recorded historical facts like the resurrection of Jesus, our daily life is one of trusting in something that we can’t yet fully see; we are constantly having to remind ourselves that reality is beyond the veneer of this life, and this life is, as one cinematic hero put it, “the world that has been pulled over our eyes.”
But faith is not just some kind of hope-so attitude, some kind of therapeutic exercise to get us through our daily existence by fixing our minds on an unreal “happy place”; instead, it is a driving conviction that is in itself the EVIDENCE that proves what it professes. Faith brings into this present world what belongs to the future; it brings the will of God to earth, changing our lives and changing the world. And that is because faith is the thing down deep in your heart that will not let you turn your attention away from Jesus; the thing that, no matter how your soul may stray and wander, will always pull you back to the Lord like you are a puppy on a leash. A pastor recently said in a sermon, “The best proof I have for Christianity is that I simply cannot turn my gaze away from Jesus Christ. He, like no other, has captured me; I cannot deny his majesty. When I read the Gospels, I cannot deny that I am looking at God, and his glory is incomparable. I simply cannot look away.”
Faith anchors the soul.
And faith, Paul says, justifies.
As you read this week, please pray and thank God for helping your faith. Meditate on faith and what it entails. Think about what it demands from your life. Pray that the Holy Spirit would grant you more faith and deeper faith and especially a deeper walk with Jesus which is what faith is all about.
See you Sunday (or before).
