FAITH
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Faith – Putting Your Complete Trust in Someone or Something
You are probably sitting on something right now, a chair, couch or maybe your bed. Did you take the time to check it out before you sat down? Probably not. Why? Because you trusted that the chair would hold you. You know from experience that it would. You also trust that the lights will come on when you flick the switch and water will come out of the faucet.
We also put our faith in people. We trust our parents to provide for and protect us. They make sure that we have food and clothing and a place to live. We trust doctors to give us the right medicine when we are sick. We trust our teachers to grade our papers correctly and to treat us kindly. We trust policemen and firemen to keep us safe in times of trouble. We trust coaches to help us do our best.
There is only one problem with all the things and people mentioned above – they fail sometimes. Chairs do break once in a while; the power goes out and plumbing fails. People, usually mean well, but they too sometimes fail or make mistakes.
There is only One Who has NEVER failed, and that’s God. He has never, ever made a mistake, nor will He ever. We can trust God completely. As a matter of fact, the Bible says that it is impossible to please God without faith. Let’s look at a few people who had faith in God.
There is a wonderful chapter in the Bible called the “Faith Chapter”. It is found in Hebrews 11 in the New Testament. It tells us of many people who put their trust in God, even in hard times.
Abel was one of the first sons of Adam and Eve. He had been taught to offer a lamb as a sacrifice when he sinned. The lamb had to be a male, without spot or blemish. Abel did this, trusting that by doing this his sin would be forgiven.
Noah believed God when He said that there was going to be a flood. Noah showed his faith by working hard to build the ark, a boat to save his family. He also warned his neighbors about the coming judgment. When the time came, Noah took his family into the ark and God did just what He said. Noah was saved because of his faith.
God chose a man named Abraham to be the first Jew, the nation that the Savior, Jesus, would be born into. Abraham left his home and journeyed where God told him. He even was willing to offer up his precious son Isaac when God tested him. God stopped Abraham from harming Isaac and provided a ram instead as the offering. This was a picture of how God provided His Own Son, Jesus, to be a sacrifice for us.
Jochebed and Amram, the Jewish parents of Moses, had faith that God would protect their son from Pharaoh, who wanted all Jewish baby boys killed. Jochebed his Moses in a basket in the Nile river until one day the daughter of the Pharaoh found him. She adopted him as her own. When Moses was forty years old, he, by faith, chose to leave the Pharaoh’s palace and return to help the Jews escape from slavery in Egypt.
By faith, the Jewish slaves killed the Passover lamb and put its blood on their door posts. That night the death angel passed over their homes and went on to kill the first born in each Egyptian home. Even Pharaoh’s son was not spared. Pharaoh finally agreed to let the Jews go, but soon chased after them. The Jews had faith in God because He opened the Red Sea and they walked across on dry ground. The Egyptian army followed but were drowned.
Others are mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11:
- Rahab hung a red rope in her window trusting that her life would be spared when the walls of Jericho fell.
- David faced the giant Goliath because he had faith that God would give him the victory.
- Gideon, just a young man, led 300 men with just trumpets, torches and pitchers against an army of 135,000. He trusted God to give him a great victory, and He did.
- Daniel believed God would protect him when he was wrongfully thrown to the lions. God shut the lion’s mouths.
These people had great faith in a great God. We can have this kind of faith too because their God is the same One we worship today.
The most important faith you can have is SAVING FAITH. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For by grace are you saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We need to be saved from our sins. Sin is anything that you think, say or do that displeases God. God cannot allow you into heaven if you don’t get rid of your sin. The ONLY way to do that is by putting your FAITH in Jesus, believing that He died on the cross for your sins and by asking Him to save you. Since HE NEVER FAILS, we can trust Him to give us eternal life. HAVE YOU TRUSTED JESUS TO SAVE YOU?
Curriculum by: Mark Redka (CBM)