Living By Faith
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive
as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was
going. By faith he made his home in the promised
land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did
Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking
forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And
by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear
children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.
And so from
this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars
in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they
died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed
them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on
earth. People
who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
If they had been thinking of
the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city
for them.
Hebrews 11:8-16
Some day, because of our faith in God, and in His Son Jesus, we will be
called to heaven.
The lives of the pioneers of faith did not turn back. They kept on
moving forward to a place God had prepared for them, on this earth and in
heaven. We are the same way. We are called to follow, and during our travels to
witness.
The joys of heaven will more than compensate for the
difficulties of earth.
Our Daily
Bread –