Yesterday I shared on how our attitude is the evidence of the faith we have in God, based on a word from Hebrews 11:1. If you keep going on to Hebrews 11:16 it says “Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God…”.
The ‘therefore’ is referring to a long list of men and women of the bible who walked and acted in faith. Not in things they could see, but in things promised. Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Moses, Sarah, etc… They ‘acted’ in their faith. Ultimately they acted in obedience driven by a faith that their ultimate hope was in the good and beneficial home God had prepared for them upon death.
Hebrews 11:13 says “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the hearth.” God was not ashamed to be called their God because they walked in the faith of knowing they were strangers to this world and would some day be home with God. They had an attitude of confidently looking forward to things good and beneficial. And the ultimate good and beneficial thing is a home prepared for them by their Father. A home that exists for them after death.
I so want to hear God say He was not ashamed to be called my god. And I could get so caught up in focusing on my sin that I could be deceived into thinking this could never be so. But Hebrews tells me this is not the case. Paraphrased, it said ‘therefore…God is not ashamed to be called their God because they all died in faith.’ This same Faith referred to in Hebrews 11:1 that is an attitude of being sure and confident of things good and beneficial and looking forward to them.
Did these men and women of the Old Testament make mistakes or waver in their walk? Yes…we could spend a day talking just about that. The point is not that God was not ashamed of them because they were perfect people. The point is that God was not ashamed of them because they lived, walked and acted in faith. Their attitude of faith was evident in their lives.
Evidence is by definition ‘an outward sign of proof’. (Hebrews 11:1 ...and the evidence of things not seen.) I want God to see that attitude of faith in me. I want to be an ‘outward sign of proof’ of things not seen but that do exist through God. When things are hard, challenging, upsetting, scary, not going my way, hurtful…what is my attitude? What is showing to the world around me? What ‘outward sign of proof’ that I have faith do I exhibit? I can tell the world that I have faith that God is in control, that I have faith in God to use evil for good, that I have faith in God to desire good and beneficial things for me; but if my attitude does not reflect this…what kind of light am I being for God?
After all, isn’t that the ultimate reason God is not ashamed to be called our god? The men and women of the Old Testament reflected an attitude of faith that ultimately led others to seek and believe in their God. They may not have seen this come to fruition in their lifetime, but that was not theirs to see or be concerned about. They were called to act in faith so that God’s plan for generations to come would be fulfilled. I could not help but see this all come together. My attitude is an outward sign of my heart. If my heart has faith, then my attitude should reflect it. And aren’t we called by the great commission to reflect the light of God so that others may come to know Him?
Our forefathers couldn’t see what was promised but their attitude of faith led generation after generation after generation to a faith in their God. This is our calling; to reflect the attitude of being sure and confident of things good and beneficial; looking forward to them even when we cannot see them.
God Bless and Keep You,
Tami
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