Faith is one of those words that many people use but do not always understand. As a result, it has never been implemented. We talk a lot about faith in Christendom, among the brethren. According to the author of the book of James, we must not only talk about our faith, but also demonstrate it through our actions. In general, every one of us believes in something. An example is walking into the church and sitting comfortably on the chair and trusting the chair to carry the weight of your body all through the church service. The emphasis of this teaching, however, is on the critical need for us to have faith in the Almighty God, who created heaven.
Faith is a firm belief in something for which there is no tangible evidence. Your firm beliefs in that chair you’re seated on are that it will carry your weight without damaging. These are things we believe in but lack tangible proof for, as verse one of our text tries to demonstrate, by redefining them for us. Faith in God entails placing trust in Him and believing that He will keep His promises in the face of adversity. In Jeremiah 1: 12, God promises to fulfil His word as soon as possible. God and His promises is the object of faith, with confidence and trust as central features. Faith is essential.
Faith is the fuel that powers the Christian life and without it, your Christian life cannot be what God intends. When you lack faith in your Christian life, you may find it difficult to impress God or do what God expects of you. You might not be able to live the way God desires. According to Hebrews 11: 6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” [Ephesians 2: 8].
Why Faith in God?
You will gain and achieve much more if you base your faith solely on God. In Mark 11: 22-24, Jesus had to teach His disciples the importance of having faith in God. With the story of the fig tree, Jesus Christ, in the midst of everything else He had to say, encouraged and admonished His disciples to have faith in God. There are many things attempting to undermine your faith in God and instil doubt and fear in your life but I urge you to continue to have faith in God in the face of any opposition.
Do you remember Abraham’s faith? Abraham did not have the privilege of fellowship with other believers, nor did he have access to the Bible as we do today. There was no one to encourage him in his faith, but he never wavered in his belief in God. And what about the Centurion? According to Matthew 8: 13, Jesus told him, “Let it be done to you according to your faith.” And in Matthew 9: 22, Jesus said to the woman with the issue of blood, “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith has healed you.” People who walked with God in the past did so with great faith.
You and I have no excuse because we have the advantage of having the Bible and so many other sources of encouragement. So, if they could believe in God back then, we can’t do anything less and be accepted by God. According to Mark 10: 52, Jesus praised the faith of blind Bartimaeus: “Go thy way, thy faith has healed you,” Jesus said. In the same vein, if you put your trust in God, he will not let you down.