Hebrews: The Daily Discipline of a Devoted Lifeنموونە

We often link faith to a set of beliefs that we hold, yet this powerful chapter does not contain a confessional statement – it is action-packed. Faith is energetic, visionary, and risky. It is allowing what you believe about God to drive your whole life. 

By faith Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees to go to an unknown land (v. 8), when he had nothing else to go on apart from God’s Word: he ‘went, even though he did not know where he was going.’ In 1960 my father left a lucrative job in a Belfast engineering firm to be a missionary in Ethiopia. He knew nothing about Ethiopia other than what he had read. But our whole family history, including the lady my father was to marry, was to be dictated by this call of God – a call that seemed absurd to my dad’s boss. The church Dad planted in Addis Ababa has now mushroomed, by God’s grace, to take in more than 12,000 believers, in over 80 congregations! 

But, faith isn’t just about adventure; it’s about sacrifice (v. 17), as God calls Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. It was Abraham’s hope in God’s power to raise the dead that led him to give up his precious son. Faith often involves losing out in this world so we can find joy and reward in the next. The repeated refrain in this chapter is that people of faith lived as ‘aliens and strangers on earth’ (v. 13). The more smug we are in the West, the less likely we are to be living by faith! 

Faith affects how parents raise their children (v. 23). By faith Moses’ parents discerned that Moses was no ordinary child, so they broke the law of Egypt, and risked their lives, to hide Moses in the bulrushes. As a father of three small boys, I want to look at them with their struggles and sins, and dream kingdom dreams for them. But that involves me as a parent investing in their spiritual, moral and educational development. Does your faith inspire you to dream big kingdom dreams for your kids and grandkids, or do you just want them to be healthy, wealthy and happy? 

Faith is an action word that propels you to leave your comfort zone – like Moses leaving the palaces of Egypt – and discover God, often in the desert experiences of life. Faith makes you vulnerable to God, but it’s also powerful – powerful enough to conquer kingdoms, administer justice and bring down the walls of Jericho! Don’t leave home without it! 

Reflection

Has your faith led to action?