Faithfulness is faith in action. And what is faith? Charles Spurgeon explains faith by saying that it is made up of three things—knowledge, belief, and trust.
We gain knowledge of Who Christ is by reading the Word. We believe that He is Who He says that He is, and we trust that He will do what He has promised to do.
It’s more than simply believing God exists, it’s understanding and accepting His supreme authority. It’s believing that He is everything He says He is. It’s believing that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. It’s putting our worries and cares in His hands as we’re trusting that He will prove Himself faithful. It’s believing that He’s all powerful and wise.
An incredible example of faithfulness is found in Genesis Chapter 22. God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to give up the one thing he cherished most in this world, his beloved son Isaac.
“Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah.” He says. “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (v. 2)
Early the next morning Abraham set out to do exactly what God commanded of him. He took wood for a fire, carried a knife, and climbed the mountain where he built and altar, tied up his son, and laid him on top of the wood. But just as he was about to kill Isaac, Abraham was stopped by an angel of God.
Abraham was willing to give God his best and trust Him with the rest because He knew Who God was, He believed in the power of God, and trusted that God would fulfill His promises to him.
Even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11:18-19, NIV)
Let’s compare Abraham’s faith to that of a rich young ruler found in Mark Chapter 10. The Bible tells us that he kept all of the commandments. He didn’t steal, he didn’t murder, he didn’t lie, he didn’t commit adultery, he didn’t bear false witness, and he honored his mother and father, but he was lacking one thing–faithfulness. Jesus told him to go sell everything he had and to give it to the poor, but instead he walked away sad.
Like Cain (who we talked about yesterday), he was willing to give God some of his money, some of his time, and some of his resources but he wasn’t willing to give God his best.
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Tilling the Soil
Read Hebrews chapter 11 where we find some great examples of faith in action.
Planting Hope
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews 11:1-2, NIV)
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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.
She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.
It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.
Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.
Connect with Darlene:
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You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife