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Thursday-Faith ALWAYS Leads to Action

 

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

 

Hebrews 11:23

 

We are all people of faith. There I said it. Depending on who you ask, about 28% of American adults say that they don’t believe in God[1]. Whatever the correct number is, everyone agrees that more and more people are saying that they don’t believe in God[2].

 

So, how can I say that we are all people of faith? For one simple reason: because there is no way to prove what we believe it true. While there is no way for me to prove that there is a God, the opposite is also true. There is no way to prove that God does not exist either.

 

The idea that we live by faith more than just about whether God exists or not, faith also comes out in all sorts of other parts of life. Think about this for a minute. What are the most important beliefs that you have? Write them down. Now, try and prove them. Here are a few to get us started.

 

  • Is murder right or wrong?

  • Is it OK to have more than one spouse at a time?

  • Is there anything wrong with lying?

  • Why obey any law?

 

I know that these questions probably made your face turn red. And I’m sorry for that. But then again, I’m not really all that sorry. You see, we’re all people of faith. Then only difference is what kind of faith we have and how we follow that faith.

 

Even though we can’t prove these things, we still act like they are true. This is faith. And our faith will always, always, always come out in our words, thoughts, actions, and attitudes. We just can help it.

 

So, when it came to whether to kill the baby Moses, the faith of Amram and Jochebed made them disobey the law of the land. Pharoah said to kill all the baby boys born to the Jews[3]. Then, they hid him for three months.

 

Now that’s faith. Have you ever tried to hide a newborn? Just think of the practical, daily problems in trying to hide a baby.

 

  • There’s the fact that a mother no longer looks like she’s pregnant. Imaging one day you’re really fat, and the net you’re not. What do you say when the neighbors ask, “So, what happened to that great big stomach you had? Where did it go?

  • As we all know, babies are not quiet. They don’t just sit there quietly making cute noises. No, they scream and yell. Why? Because that’s the only way they know to get someone’s attention. They haven’t learned how to text yet. And they don’t know the meaning of the words, “Please be quiet.”

  • I’m not trying to be gross, but just practical. What do you do with all those dirty diapers? While you might be able to hide the diapers themselves, there’s absolutely no way to hide the smell. You can buy all the air fresheners and use an airtight diaper pail, there’s just no way to hide that.

 

With all these problems and more, Amram and Jochebed acted in faith. They chose not to do the easy thing. Not to “go with the flow” of their culture. They made a choice to live by faith. And that one choice led to a whole lot of other choices and decisions that put them and their child in danger.

 

But how did they know that they were to do this? How did God tell them that they were to act in faith with this child of theirs? While we don’t know exactly how that happened, we’re told that Jochebed saw that her baby was a fine child and this motivated her to hide the child for three months[4].

 

Now I know that we would say the same thing about our children. That they were fine. Our baby wasn’t an ordinary child. After all, they were ours. Didn’t that make them special? That’s not what the writer of this letter is saying through. He’s telling the Hebrews that this particular baby was not ordinary in the sight of God.

 

So, the question that immediately pops into our heads is, “What did the baby Moses do to earn God’s favor? What could this little child have accomplished to deserve this blessing? You’re absolutely right – nothing. From the moment of life, that child hadn’t done a single thing to be paid back by God.

 

The same is true for us. There isn’t a single thing that we can do to earn anything good from God. But there’s plenty that we can do to earn his anger. When we turn from him, when we’re not thankful, his rage towards us is right. And there’s nothing that we can do to fix it. That’s why God himself in Jesus had to die on the cross. His death paid our debt once and for all. So when we say we have faith in Jesus, just like in every other part of life, it ALWAYS leads to actions of worship to God and kindness to people.

 

Noodling Questions

 

  • Why does faith always lead to action?

  • How did your parents’ faith change your life?

  • Describe how your actions resulted in God’s bringing painful circumstances.


[1] 2024 Pew Research Center

[3] Exodus 1:16

[4] Exodus 2:2

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