One day I was talking to a man that builds houses. I told him I have seen houses in a certain area that were not all that old, but had problems with cracks in the brick walls, sagging roofs and other structural problems. I have also seen other houses in the same area that are much older but have no structural issues. He said the difference is the houses with problems probably have a bad foundation and the ones without problems have a good strong one. I found this same principle in the Bible. Luke 6:48-49 says, “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was build on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who builded a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
The Christian life is built on a foundation of faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8). What is faith? “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). We also read in Romans 8:24-25,“For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” Faith then is believing in something you cannot see or touch. To illustrate this point, I have personally not seen the beautiful country of Scotland, but I believe it exists, or I have faith based on evidences that it exists. I believe or have faith that the Bible is the inspired word of God, based on evidences that we find in the Bible, as well as ancient manuscripts found and read by Bible scholars.
When we read the Bible we must have faith.From a human standpoint, we cannot explain how God spoke the world and all the universe, as well as all animals and mankind into existence. We cannot explain how Noah could build a craft as large as the ark where two or more of all kinds of animals on the earth as well as eight people lived for over a year. Without faith I cannot explain how a man could have been swallowed by a great fish, live inside it for three days and survive. Without faith I could not understand how a man who had been dead for several days was raised from the grave to live again.
The Christian life must be built on a strong foundation of faith, Paul summarizes the topic of faith in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” If you have a strong faith in God and his teaching you will be able to withstand the temptations placed on you by the devil, but if you have a weak faith or have doubt you will never be able to overcome the many temptations placed on you by the devil. Faith can grow and mature by a regular study of the Bible and applying the principles found therein to your life.
–by Don Adair