Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, August 11, 2019
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: We may or may not see the fruits of our faith in our lifetimes. They may be realized in our children or our children’s children.
Those of us living in an immediate-gratification world may have trouble with this interpretation of faith. We might be willing to have “assurance of things hoped for,” but only to a point. If the thing we hope for doesn’t come to us quickly enough, often we let it go and move on to the next thing, abandoning faith little by little.
But there’s a long history of people (like those named in this text) that had faith in God’s promises—faith so deep, they altered their lives to help make the promises come to pass. And so many of these never saw the fruits of their faith during their own lifetime. Abel expressed faith so that he became God’s favorite, and then was murdered for it. Enoch (descendant of Noah and one of 10 pre-flood patriarchs) was said to be so faithful, God took him and he never died. Noah built his ark out of faith without even realizing that his faithful act of obedience contributed to the demise of the rest of the world.
Finally listed here, Abraham maintained faith in God’s promise to father a mighty nation and to inherit land. Abraham didn’t father a son until long after he was too old to do so (as was Sarah). And Abraham also remained in the promised land living in tents. It would be centuries and many generations before his descendants would inherit the land and build more permanent dwellings there.
This text suggests that faith is not something we can abandon when the “things hoped for” do not materialize in our way and in our time. Many of these most prominent figures never saw the fruits of their faith. Perhaps faith is not about hoping until proven but believing despite proof or knowledge of the fulfillment in our own lifetime. As a parent (or teacher, coach, minister, mentor, or friend), it becomes clearer each day that the things I have faith in now (or don’t) are passed on (or aren’t), and they will live within our children and children’s children whether I intend it or not. My faith is not just my own. It touches all the people on whose lives I have influence. I shall choose what I believe and how I express it very carefully.
How does faith intersect your daily life?
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