“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.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Some
have attributed the authorship of the letter to the Hebrews to the Apostle
Paul, but most scholars accept it as written by an unknown author. One commentary source describes this writing
as being for “Greek speaking Jewish
Christians living outside Palestine”.*
It
makes sense that Jewish believers would be the recipients of this letter since
they would have come out of observance of the Mosaic Law or The Ten
Commandments. The writer is stressing
the importance of faith or the belief in unseen things as if they could be
seen. His use of Old Testament examples
of people who exhibited faith in verses 3-5 further galvanizes the point of who
the recipients were.
As
believers today we must realize that without faith we cannot hope to please the
Lord. We also must be careful to
understand that outside this verse there is plenty of evidence that faith alone
is not enough. Our faith must lead to
trust which in turn must lead to action.
Simply believing is inadequate for the scriptures teach us that even the
demons believe in God (James 2:19).
To
earnestly seek God should be a daily occurrence. Not to
do so is like taking a shower once in a while in the hopes of staying free from
dirt. Don’t seek God for the reward;
seek Him because He is worthy to be sought.
Until next time, walk with the King today and be a blessing!
* Asbury Bible Commentary » Part III: The New Testament
» HEBREWS » Introduction » I. Occasion
