Faith!

Faith!

For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance. 2 Corinthians 5:7 AMPC

There is a popular abridged version of today's extract, and it is: 'we walk by faith and not by sight'. Why is this verse so key? Let us look at the context in which the verse is placed: God makes it clear that our earthly body will surely be torn down. This body of dust is just an outer cover for our real self, the soul, the part that will stand before God for judgment to receive the eternal consequences of our earthy stay. We know that God is preparing a home for us in heaven, and it is a home that He is the architect of and will exist forever. These precise statements are enough to make me pause and wonder what is really ahead. How much of these can I trust to be true? If I know them to be true, how do I really prepare? All of life's experiences down here make me look forward to the new things God has promised. 

Nothing down here should hold any attraction, because there is nothing down here that can replace the body and home God is preparing for us. There is also a groaning, as no matter how hard I try, I cannot shortchange the process or speed it up; I can only wait for the fulfilment of God's promise, and the new body and home He has promised. How do I know any of these things are really true? What is the guarantee that there is really anything to look forward to? The answer is in one of the verses before today's extract, and it is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the 'guarantee' of all that God has promised. He is the assurance that God can and will keep his Word. It then means that if I will get all that has been promised, I need the presence of the Holy Spirit to keep me on the right path and consistently doing the right things. 

The Holy Spirit is not just a feeling or a sense of moralistic righteousness; He is a person; one promised by God to keep me focused on the eternal, even while I am living out the temporal. And it is not a wonder that I am challenged to walk by faith, not by sight. There is nothing in the physical realm that can explain the spiritual. There is nothing in the spiritual that a man who does NOT have the Spirit of God can understand. It is called faith because I have to take God at His Word that all He has said in it are true. I have not seen a scratch of what He has promised, but the Presence of the Holy Spirit keeps my heart focused on God. As I read His Word, I am reminded of where I am coming from, where I am now and where I am headed. God takes care of all that. 

No person or power is able to predict what lies ahead with any degree of certainty, but God lays it all out with clarity, inviting me to trust Him. What do I stand to lose if I do? If I have tried all other options, and I still do not have peace, what will it cost me to try God out and find out for myself?  Remember, nothing about God will make sense if you do not have His Spirit to remind you of what is truly important. You can't make it by yourself, and you will not succeed at it on your own terms. I walk by faith, because sight is deceptive. My senses are limited to what it can evidence, but there is a lot that none of my senses can evidence. God would have me believe Him and His Word, and He gives me His Spirit to remind me daily of what is truly important. Eternity is at stake here, and eternity is too long a time not to be sure of where you will spend it. God's time of favour is here.