Live by Faith – June 24, 2021

For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

Live by Faith

Was it any wonder that Pontius Pilate found it hard to believe that Jesus was truly a king? That was the “crime” that Jesus was being accused of by his enemies—a rebel and an upstart who was trying to set up his own kingdom. But who could believe that to look at him? Isaiah described him this way: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). What few disciples Jesus had had all fled, abandoning their rabbi when he was arrested. Now he stood alone before the Roman governor, “despised and rejected by men.” You can hear the incredulity in Pilate’s voice as he asks, “Are you a king?”

We may have the same doubts about those who are followers of this king. Christians around the world are often harassed and persecuted for their faith in the Nazarene Jesus, who was crucified as a criminal. Their lives are full of the same suffering and pain as those around them, despite their allegiance to the God who they believe created the universe. They say that God is their Father and that he loves them, but Christians also get sick and die, just like everyone else.

But Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. And his followers live by faith, not by sight. They know God’s promises are true because they know that he is truthful. They put their faith in him because he is faithful. God kept his promise to send his Son as Savior of mankind, so he will also keep his promise to love us as his dear children for the sake of Jesus. And finally, God will keep his last promises when he comes to take us to live with him forever in heaven. These bodies we live in may be fragile, and the world we live in full of peril, but we live by faith, not by sight. Our king, the Lord Jesus Christ, will never disappoint us.

Prayer:
Lord God, I pray that you would increase my faith to trust your word even when my eyes tell me there is reason to doubt. Keep my faith focused on Jesus, who rose from the dead and who will give me eternal life by his side. Amen.