Hebrews 11:6

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV). Our verse is found in the faith chapter of Hebrews, in the paragraph about the faith of Enoch. He had a rather unique experience in that God took him from the earth while still alive. God did this to show his pleasure over the faith Enoch expressed through his testimony. It pleases God when our life is a demonstration of our faith.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, but that faith is not just in anything. It is faith in the existence of God; a God we can not see. If our faith is real it will result in us putting forth effort, with diligence, to draw near to him and as we do we will experience his presence and his benefits in our lives. To seek him is like searching for a hidden treasure and when found we have a reward. I am not implying that we seek God for the reward, but one would not seek if there was not a benefit. There are two categories of benefits: those the world has to offer and those God has to offer. Those of the world are external and temporary and require effort on our part, but those from God are primarily internal and are given as a gift to enjoy without end. Just think of the blessing of enjoying his presence and the fruit of the spirit at work in our lives.

Prayer

Father, coming to God in faith is a process of learning how to transfer living from being “of” the world to being “in” the world. Being in the world we live as aliens with our citizenship in heaven and are here on assignment. Being of the world, we allow information from the world to negatively impact our lives. Father, we are hearing two voices today; the world says come and enjoy many things, but God says go into the world and make a difference doing kingdom work. Father have mercy on us because it is clear that the voice of the world is the more appealing voice in the western church today.