Yesterday was another incredible day at LifePoint. The band sounded great. It amazes me how great those guys are. Who would have thought that Enoch could play a wooden box and make it sound that good? Aside from the technical difficulties with the right side projector-hopefully that will get fixed this week-everything went well. Nick did a great job teaching about “whosoever believes.” However, I must admit that one comment has me intrigued, perhaps even perplexed. Nick said, “The only thing Jesus will ever ask you to do is believe.” Seriously? Is this really true or just hyperbole? Does Nick really expect us to believe that Jesus will not ask us to do anything else but believe? It seems far-fetched. It seems ridiculous. It seems impossible. It got me thinking. Obviously, there are many other things in scripture we are asked to do-obey our parents, take care of widows and orphans, share the gospel, attend church, and on and on. So what;s up? It seems as though Nick is trying to pull a fast one. I think I may have some insight.

Hebrews 11, the passage Nick shared with us yesterday, is filled with outrageous acts of obedience. Noah builds a boat, Abraham journeyed to an unknown destination, Moses led the nation of Israel out of egyptian slavery, Rahab risked her life to hide spies, men and women were stoned, sawn in two, beaten, and scourged. And the writer of Hebrews credits belief as the motivating factor for such bold obedience. So let’s wrap this us and put a bow on it. Obviously, God asks us to be obedient in many different ways, but it is belief that God is who He says He is, He can be trusted, and will do what He has promised that motivates us to obey Him. If we believe, then we will obey. Obedience is motivated by belief. Unfortunately, the converse is also true. When we disobey, then we have unbelief. Typically we don’t believe God’s ways are the best ways so we choose our ways.

So what if Hebrews 11 was still being written today? How would the verse with your name in it read? By faith,_______________(your name), _________________________________________. What great act of valor or obedience would be motivated by your belief?