#DailyDevotion Faith In Christ Acts In Works Of Faith
Heb. 11 17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac. Yes, this man, who received the promises 18and was told: “Isaac’s children will be called your descendants,” was sacrificing his only son, 19thinking, “God can even raise him from the dead.” And so, figuratively speaking, he did. 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21By faith a dying Jacob blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, remembered how the Israelites would leave Egypt and gave directions for his burial.
While faith alone saves us, receives God’s blessings and makes us righteous before God, faith is never alone. You can hear the faith of someone by the confession of their mouth. You can see the faith of someone in their actions. We do not act contrary to what we believe. There may be occasions where the outward action may seem in conflict though inwardly we are indeed being consistent with the faith as in cases where we may lie to save someone’s life.
So in this section of Hebrews 11 we see faith in action. We return to Abraham and his family. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his own son, the promised son, through Sarah, Abraham acted on the LORD’s command. While it may have been extremely heart wrenching to prepare his son for sacrifice, we see here, Abraham believed God’s promise that through Isaac, the LORD would bless him with many descendants. He believed if he sacrificed Isaac, the LORD could and would Isaac from the dead. The LORD had made a covenant with him. He believed God does not lie and would fulfill his promise. Abraham received Isaac back as one raised from the dead.
Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in faith. While Isaac had intended to pass down the covenant blessing to Esau, God had spoken a different word. As such, when he blessed Jacob with the covenant, he would not and could not retract it. He believed God had fulfilled His word and he would abide by it.
By faith Jacob blessed his two grandsons making them equal to Joseph. He blessed the younger over the older, preserving God’s choice. God had revealed His will to Joseph and Jacob believed God’s word.
Joseph knew God’s word and promise of how he and his brothers’ families would grow in Egypt and then later be mistreated and leave. He gave directions on how to treat his body so when that time came, he would be buried with his fathers in the promised land. The Israelites brought Joseph as directed 400 years later.
So you have a promise and a word from Jesus. By His death and resurrection all your sins are forgiven. He has promised to be with you always. He has promised to raise you from the dead and have you inherit God and the New Heavens and New Earth. How does that look in your day to day life? Do you forgive others their sins against you? Do you hold on loosely to the things of this world? Do you share this good news with others you know don’t know Jesus so they too may believe and receive what Jesus has promised? Do you provide the means for others to hear the good news? Let your faith be seens by how you live your life.
Merciful God and Father, grant us such courage and strength to make our faith manifest in this dying world so others may see and believe the good news of Jesus Christ and be saved themselves through this same faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.