In Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) We read, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
And in James 2:17 (NIV) We read, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
And in 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV) We read, "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Faith is not a feeling, it is a belief that prompts action. People claim that they "can be good people without God" but that doesn't mean they are pleasing to God. Not without faith.
For example: A good person is walking down the street and encounters a beggar. This good person only has $5 to his name and quickly walks past the beggar because he doesn't believe he can spare any change. This doesn't make him a bad person....but it displeases God.
Why?
Here is the same story only this time, the good person is a person of faith. A good person of faith is walking down the street and encounters a beggar. This good person of faith only has $5 to his name. But because this good person truly has faith in God and His Word, he shares the last $5 he has with the beggar. His faith recognizes God as provider and because he believes God will provide, He fears no lack and shares. Now, not only is this a good person, but he has pleased God as well.
So why is God pleased?
Because when we live and act on our faith, we allow God to use us to accomplish His will. God used the good man of faith to help another human being. Faith has the power to turn the ordinary human into an extraordinary human.
When we walk by faith and not by sight, our faith will dictate our actions and not what we can see in the material realm.
A more sobering example: A good but poor woman discovers she is pregnant. Fearing that she will be unable to provide for her child, she aborts the child.
A poor woman of faith discovers that she too is pregnant but she has faith that God will provide so she carries the child to term and gives birth to Albert Einstein.
I wonder how many Einsteins, Bach's and Mother Theresa's have been aborted because of a lack of faith?
And finally, consider the story of Abraham and Isaac. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham was a man of great faith and regardless of what Abraham saw in the material realm, he had faith in the Divinity of God and acted on that faith. God saw Abraham's faith and spared Isaac and promised Abraham that he would make a great nation out of Abraham's descendants. That nation was Israel and from that nation came the Messiah.
Abraham's faith, allowed God to accomplish His Will which was to bless mankind with the greatest gift of all time - Jesus Christ.
It makes me wonder, how many blessings God has tried to give mankind but was unable to do so because of our lack of faith.
