“—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,”

Here we have a litany of the known results of faith. It will go on through several verses because the number of faith saving events in the Bible is almost like the sands of the sea and stars of the heavens. You name it, and someone probably did it by faith. As we read the list, we will no doubt think of instances where these events occurred. The student of the Old Testament would know these stories even if he/she wasn’t sure of the connection of faith to the outcome. We often read them with the tinted glasses of seeing God’s power and miss the power God gives to faith.

Jesus tried to teach that lesson to His followers repeatedly, but they were slow learners. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe in God or even in Jesus for that matter. They were slow to connect their faith with God’s acts. The writer of Hebrews does not want the readers of his book to have “little” faith. He wants the readers to see that faith and promise are connected. All these wonderful deeds of old were put into motion by faith.

Task for Today: Just think what we could do if we had the faith of Hebrews chapter eleven. Today would be a good time to think about your own personal life and your relationship to God based on the size of your faith. Still struggling like the disciples? Read this chapter over and over until its message has sunk into your heart.