Our Faith Pleases God
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11:1-7
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:6
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.
If someone did a lot of good things for you but admitted that they did them out of guilt and not because they believed in you, would that bother you?
Today’s Key Verse is saying that God is pleased when a person believes in Him and in His goodness and power. If our efforts to please God come from any other place than faith in Him, we will not please Him.
The Hebrew writer tells us what may be obvious: anyone who wants to come to God must believe that He exists. Most people in this world believe that there is a God. Where people struggle is the “so what” question of God’s existence. What does it matter to them that God exists? How does it show up in their behavior?
Jesus said: “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.” (Matthew 7:13).
The narrow gate symbolizes that believing in Jesus is the only way to get to heaven.
Even though a lot of people believe that God exists, they refuse to believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Society does not like the idea of being told there is only one way to get to heaven. People want the path to heaven to be broader and wide enough to include other ideas of how to get to heaven.
Jesus is clear that no one gets to heaven without coming through Him: “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).
Our Key Verse for today brings good news to anyone who wants to come to God. God rewards those who seek Him.
We are seeing many people from a variety of religions coming to Jesus. This is happening because God rewards those who seek Him, no matter their “religion”. Many people do not know that Jesus is the only way, but they are seeking God with a sincere heart. It is these sincere seekers that God is revealing that Jesus is the way to salvation.
You may feel lost at times and overwhelmed with questions about God that go unanswered. If you simply continue to seek God, He will reward you with what you need for your journey to Heaven.
Father, I will continually seek you. I want to personally know you as my God. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.