Seized to Be A Hero in the Faith

Key Verse

And without faith it is impossible to please God…
Hebrews 11:6a (NIV)

Short Reflection

There are various ways to please God. Among those, the main characteristic is faith – in fact, it is impossible to please God without it. Today the world is full of fear and anxiety. It doesn’t matter if you live in a so-called developed country or, like me, reside in a developing, materially poor country. Fear and anxiety abound.

But as for me, it is good to be near God (Psalm 73:28, NIV). I want to stay near God, and staying near Him helps me to become a hero in the faith. It helps me, like Hebrews 10:38 says, to be the righteous one who will live by faith and not shrink back. Staying near God pleases God and my faith grows because God is faithful. It helps me become confident of what I hope for and certain of what I do not yet see (Hebrews 11:1).

Hebrews 11 captures many stories of faith of those who stayed near God. Life wasn’t at all easy for them – tortured, imprisoned, stoned, sawed in two, destitute. “The world was not worthy of them” (Hebrews 11:38a). The faith that results when we stay near God gives the strength to win the world, to love enemies, to hate sin, to carry our cross, to be certain of our salvation, and to make us powerful persons, far from being controlled by fear and anxiety.

Those Hebrews 11 heroes have given the baton of faith to you and me.

Jesus has seized you to be a hero in the faith!

This is the first in the “Seized to Be A Hero in the Faith” series of blog posts and is a special submission from Santhiyappillai Vimalathasan, the Mannar Microfinance Branch Coordinator of our Sri Lankan partner, YGro-HEED.