"And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him
must believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." Hebrews
11:6
In a
chapter filled with stories of impossible things that happened by faith, I find
it fascinating that the most impossible thing that faith accomplishes is
pleasing God! Of all the fantastic feats of faith featured in Hebrews 11, the
one that mattered most to these Heroes of Faith was gaining the pleasure of
God! That was their greatest reward! He was (and is) their greatest reward!
What are
you hoping to accomplish through your faith?
Meditating
on this inspiring notion I was able to identify several satisfying rewards of
faith! I would like to share them with you in the hope they will bless you as
they bless me!
Reward
One: RELATIONSHIP!
God
created you for Himself. As Pascal declared, "There
is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled
by any created thing. It can only be filled by God made known through Jesus
Christ."
The
greatest reward you can receive is the mercy, grace and pleasure of God
flooding your soul and filling the void in your life. Knowing about God is one
thing but knowing God in a very personal intimate relationship is the joy of faith!
You can
receive everything else your vain ambition may crave but unless you receive a
relationship with God through Christ it will never satisfy!
Reward
Two: REALITY!
Because
you are created for God, you are created for eternity. As Paul articulated in
II Corinthians 4:18 - "So
we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen
is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" what is eternal is what is real!
Living
in time with a physical body, your world is defined by your five senses, your
environment and your education. So, when you think of what is real you define
it in terms of what you can see, touch, hear, taste and intellectually
understand. Despite how vast the physical universe may be, it is still a
reality defined by time and space.
God
created you for and calls you to a greater reality! We find that greater
reality when we find Him and when we put our faith in His Word! What He says
through His Word is real not what you see with your eyes. It enables you to change
the current reality but your connection with the greater reality! That is
precisely what Abraham did and Noah did and Moses did "by faith"!
How do
we link the reality we live in to the reality we believe in? FAITH! That's what
faith is! that's what faith does! Faith ushers you into an existence that is
not limited by physical restrictions. It allows you to hope! It allows you to
cope! It allows you to transcend the evil and the brokenness of this world!
That is what Jesus meant when He taught you to pray, "Your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!"
By the
way, faith itself, even though it connects you to the eternal reality, is
itself temporary! When you take your last breath in time and inhale eternity
you will live by sight so faith will hold no further value for you!
Reward
Three: RIGHTEOUSNESS!
A third
reward of faith is righteousness. Righteousness means being made right with
God! It has a spiritual aspect to it. Without faith you trapped in your
sinful human nature. That nature is spiritually dead because it is separated
from a life-giving God Who is holy aka sinless. Unrighteousness is deceived in
its thinking and incapable of distinguishing truth from lies. Since God is
truth that creates a problem.
Righteousness
also has a legal aspect to it. Because you are born a sinner separated from God
you are judged legally guilty before God and condemned to eternal suffering.
Jesus, Who was righteous and without sin went to the cross and took your sin
upon you Himself to take the penalty for your sin. When by faith, you receive
God's gift of salvation you are forgiven of your sins and He declares you
"not guilty". At that moment you become righteous in His sight.
God IS
the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him! And the greatest of His
extravagant rewards is God Himself!
Are you
diligently seeking Him?