Beautiful Feet | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Beautiful Feet | Previous Challenge Entry
By KC Lemmer
03/01/15
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‘Faith, I don’t have it.’ Twice, over the last year, I have heard those sentiments spoken by different people, not in an aggressive way, but rather in a way that shows these dear people are grappling with this unseen substance. One of these conversations started with the recent conflict to do with religion and then moved on to ancestry worship. The aforementioned remarked that she had an interest in such things until I elaborated a little more on it and she realised it wasn’t just about admiring those who had gone before. And in response, she said quietly, ‘See, they [religions] all need faith’. Listening to her, I was struck by the despondency and confusion. It was as though she desired faith but did not know how to grasp it.

What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) states that ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ Our belief in God is faith. Our belief in His love for us is faith. Our belief that Jesus forgives us is faith. Our belief that He will return for us one day is faith. We are looking beyond our current situation and the tangible to something else, Someone else. What our faith is, and what it is in, determines how we live.

The Bible teaches us about how to develop a Christian faith. Romans 10:17 (NIV) says that ‘Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ’. To grow in our Christian faith, we need to dwell in the truths of Scripture and let them soak into us, into the way we think, into who we are. When I look at the character of Jesus, I am awed by the One I have chosen to put my faith in. He is pure. He is strong. He is forgiving. He is God. He is love. The beauty of Jesus is that when we choose to believe in Him, choose to be a follower of Him, we are choosing a life of hope, healing and fulfilment. We are choosing relationship with our Creator. It is not always an easy path to walk, and sometimes the way is rocky and steep, but it is a life-giving way.

Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV) continues speaking about people of faith. Verse 13 says, ‘All these people were still living by faith when they died...’ They called themselves ‘foreigners and strangers on earth’ and were ‘looking for a country of their own’. And verse 16 explains what country these people of faith were looking for, ‘Instead they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.’ How exciting to know that so many people of faith have gone before us, put their trust in Jesus, and moved forward with anticipation and high expectation that He has a place for them beyond death. When we, Christians, realise we are ‘foreigners and strangers on earth’ then it is so much easier to understand why we don’t think the same way as those around us, why we live differently, why we act differently, and know that we are living to please God rather than people.

Sometimes we might feel like we have little or no faith, yet Jesus encourages us in Matthew 17:20 (NIV), ‘He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”’ It strikes me, reading this verse, that faith is more about focusing on Jesus and trusting Him to hear and help us, than it is about us. In all honestly, on our own we can do nothing, but with Him everything is possible (Luke 1:37).

Faith is not just for you. How will those around you find their own faith in Jesus? Luke 10:14 asks these questions ‘How, then, can they call on one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ Verse 15 answers with, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.’ That’s you. Put on your armour of God, hold up your shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16) and with love and compassion, bring Jesus to those around you.

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