Behold Faith

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him (God)” (Hebrews 11:6a). This is one of those divinely radical statements that should grab us and throw us to the ground. Trying to please God without believing God is impossible. God loves to be believed and is sympathetic to our limited understanding, but He gives us access to His best by our childlike embrace of faith.

None of God’s extravagant gestures of love profit us if they are not mixed with faith (Hebrews 4:2-3). So He ends up asking questions like those found in our introductory verse above.

i.e. What more could I have done?
i.e. Why no good grapes?

Again, we are speechless and must humbly confess, “We didn’t believe you.”

So because we are told that “the just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4) and that “we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corithians 5:7), those who are the influences in a local vineyard need to trumpet the importance of faith to their flock. Jesus frequently reminded his little band of disciples of their need for faith (Matthew 16:8). His gentle and timely confrontations in the real circumstances of life prepared them for the life they would live, the stewardship they would be given, and the warfare of the gospel.

You see, the idea of faith is such a common thing to our ministry language that it can become commonplace and not recognized as a powerful force in the husbandman-vineyard relationship.

Jesus makes it clear that the work of God is to believe in Him that God sent (John 6:29). Clearly the first and primary work of the church is faith in Jesus Christ. Again, good shepherds need to be vocal on the matter of faith, so the sheep won’t miss out on the benefit of the trials that come to try their faith (1 Peter 1:6-9). Help them remember that picking up the shield of faith is a strategic tactic in quenching Satan’s fiery, irrational, wicked darts (Ephesians 6:16).

The plea here is this: we must be diligent and faithful to vocalize these matters, in order to move our flock beyond information about God, beyond mental assent to God, to personal trust in God through Jesus and then corporate trust in God as a Body. A believing church is a powerful church in the hands of the loving husbandman.

May our testimony be that of the Thessalonians who were remembered for their work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). Remember the Father has a green thumb. Our faith in Him will make us grow. If we fail to actively trust Him, we may well miss out on His careful and tedious preparation for good grapes. May we believe Him in all that He has done to bring us to this place, and to enjoy His best.