Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (King James Version)
Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists. (International Standard Version)
Truly, thank God for the multiple translations of the Bible we have today! I grew up with the KJV of the Bible, and our Hebrews definition of faith always flummoxed me. What exactly is evidence not seen?? I never really knew!
Have you ever met someone who was absolutely sure of their faith, seemingly every single day? Over my lifetime, I’ve met a few people who’ve had that kind of sure belief. Inspiring to me, but also a bit scary. Why? Because my own faith has holes all through it – and has been that way since my middle teens. Does that kick me out of Christianity? Am I a Christian wannabe, but haven’t quite gotten there?
What I do know in my heart, is that I am completely incapable of fully understanding things like the Trinity, the gift of salvation, or the inspiration of scripture – to name a few. These are aspects of doctrine that I will always ponder, and sometimes question. My cousin, who is a pastor, once told me years ago that God isn’t offended by our questions. After all, isn’t questioning a part of growth? That was a comfort to me, because I’d always felt that questioning was sinning and lack of faith.
And so, I offer my feeble faith to Jesus. I live in the hope of salvation, in the hope of God’s love, forgiveness, and abiding presence. I will never have all of the answers to my Biblical questions, and I’m now okay with that. How naive was it of me to think I’d ever get all of my questions answered anyway? That was the folly of my younger years at work.
As I prepared for my reflection today, I combed through many translations of Hebrews 11:1. The one word that was common to almost all translations was the word hope! I love that!
Dear Lord, I thank you for hope. I thank you for your love for the strong in faith, and for the feeble. I thank you, too, that our faith walk isn’t a comparison game, but a unique and private walk with you.
Blessings to all,
Diana
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