Living By Faith

Being a Christian in the days when the letter to the Hebrews was written was not easy. The Christians often had to suffer physically and emotionally. For them the world was a hard, unfriendly place and very anti-God. For that reason the writer of the letter tells a lot of stories of people who lived by what he calls faith, and they too lived in difficult circumstances. These stories were told to encourage these struggling Christians, and us, so that we also might live by faith and so prove the reliability and help of God in every time of need.

But what is faith? Faith is really a relationship between God and the Christian. It is the channel through which the saving mercy of Jesus Christ comes to us and puts us into a Father-child relationship with God. So faith becomes our personal trust and confidence in the God who has saved us.

The more we come to learn about God, the more our relationship with him will strengthen and that will help us to cope with all sorts of setbacks and persecutions we may face in this life. God will help us and he will also assure us of the better things he has prepared for us in the life to come. We learn to trust him more and more in this life too.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, help me to trust you to provide for my daily needs and to help me to serve you in the way you call me to. Amen.