Faith Rewarded

It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

ALTHOUGH FAITH IS one of the main foundations of Christian doctrine, we often think of it as something “out there.” We tend to treat faith as if it’s merely a theological term that has little practical application to our everyday lives. We keep it on the same shelf as other church terms, such as “justification” and “Trinity.”

The truth, however, is that we actually practice faith many times each day. Every time you drive through an intersection when the light is green, you’re demonstrating faith that other drivers will obey the red light in front of them and stop. Whenever you eat a meal at a restaurant, you’re demonstrating faith that the food was prepared correctly and under sanitary conditions. You even demonstrate faith by doing something as simple as sitting down and believing the chair won’t fall apart and dump you on the floor.

So when we read that “it is impossible to please God without faith,” we don’t need to be worried. We practice faith every day! The trick is simply to intentionally believe what God says in his Word. We obey him and serve him even though we can’t see him. That’s faith.

All of us want others to have faith and trust in our reputations and reliability. God is no different. Here’s the best news: God always knows when we demonstrate faith in him, and it causes him to feel pleasure. In fact, our faith pleases God so much that he’s promised to reward us when we sincerely believe and sincerely seek him.