Living by Faith

How does one live by faith? Is faith completely blind... or is it more complex than that, or perhaps even simpler? The author of Hebrews seems to indicate that a person who lives by faith is someone who lives out what they believe in, more specifically, what their hope is.

What is my hope? The same as Abraham, Isaac... David... an "eternal city." The concepts of "pilgrim" and "alien" are recurring themes... even so, living by faith is not just hope or belief, but it is actually living out this hope and belief. In Matthew chapter 8, when the disciples were manning the boat while Jesus was asleep, they became fearful and cried out to God. Jesus still reprimanded them though, because they did not believe...(they still cried out to Jesus for help, but it wasn't enough!). They were not living by faith.

One must be convinced of the veracity of Jesus Christ and his promises, even to the point of living it out in word and deed. Jesus, earlier in the same chapter, praised the centurion for his great faith because he truly believed Jesus could and would heal his servant.

It then follows, especially going back to the context of Hebrews, that great faith is not so much about the person (look at Baruk, Gideon, David, etc. - these guys had serious problems... they were weak, cowardly, sinful)... rather it is the object of our faith, the God who is being trusted...it is the object of our faith that is the issue. God does want appropriate faith though - faith that is real and tangible even though the object of our faith is not tangible (right now)... but, it is real!