Hebrews 11:4-16
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” p For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 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. [1]
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What is striking in this section of course is what the writer says about faith. But what is interesting in the catalogue of faith is how some of them realized the hope they were looking for during their earthly lives (Noah, Abraham), while others were looking to something they would only experience in eternity.
This is what the writer focuses on. Yes we have faith in the Lord’s presence, strength and provision throughout this earthly life. But the ultimate fulfillment of all that we are hoping for is in eternity. Ultimately our faith is directed there as well. We are longing for a “better country – a heavenly one” as well.
In a way, all people long for this, Christian or not. We can all imagine a better world – without disease, war, hatred, death, natural disasters, etc. Something in us longs for that, and even strives to create it around us, while knowing that we will never achieve it in completeness. But the Christian hope is that because of Jesus we are in fact on our way to that better country. That perfection of existence is not only something we can long for and desire; it is something that we will experience in fullness in the resurrection.
And so we live in light of the certainty of that hope. This world is not our home. This life is not going to satisfy our deepest longings and desires. Our eyes are ultimately fixed on what our Savior has prepared for us in the better country to which He will bring us.
So my prayer today is for faith. I pray for the kind of faith the writer is talking about in this passage, faith that the Lord is leading me to a better country and that my life now is to be shaped by that hope.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Heb 11:4–16). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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