Thoughts for the Day

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.’ He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead. By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau....

By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Why do we have faith in anything? Well perhaps for two reasons. It can be 'blind faith' - the child or adult sees the ice on the lake and decides to try sliding on it. There is no consideration of how thick the ice might be, or whether there are patches of open water on the lake, they just step off blindly, ignorant of their surroundings, attracted by the magnet of the unusual picture of ice where there is usually water. The end result can be lethal, as we know.

The second reason we have faith is often because someone we trust has said, "That ice is too thin to stand on!". Of course we can still ignore the advice and go our own way, with disastrous results. But most of us would take the advice, especially if a reason is given, like, "The ice has only been there since last night, and you can see water in places!" The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews gives us a number of examples of people who put all their faith in the God of their fathers. It wasn't the blind faith of ignorance, but rather faith in the God that their ancestors knew and trusted.

Faith grows for us as our spiritual journey continues, and as we learn to trust Christ's words in our Bible, so that no matter what He calls us to do we know He is there alongside us to guide us.

Lord Jesus Christ,
we read the scriptures
and are inspired by their words.
Give us the faith that means
we can "step out onto the ice" safely -
because You are there to protect us.
May we learn to rely on You
more and more in all that we do,
walking in faith all our life.
Amen.