I am amazed when I speak to people and hear the comment “I have faith.” To this comment, I want to ask, faith in what? What is the basis for your faith? Some have the idea that if they believe something long enough and hard enough what they want will happen. To have faith in something you must have trust in a person or thing. The key to true faith, faith that produces an expected outcome, is the person or thing in which you are placing your faith. I have placed my faith in many things that have failed me. For instance, I had a dependable car, and I never doubted when I was ready to go somewhere, if it would start, or if it would take me home at the end of the day. Yet, an outside force, another car, changed that when they ran into me. An outside force that I could not control destroyed my faith in that car. This is an example of how our faith is in the wrong thing. If I am a Christian, my faith must be in God and God alone. Because I am a believer, and my faith is in Him, He provided a way home and He will work out a way for another car. Because of my faith being in the One who is in control, I don’t need to know all the details I just need to know the one who controls the details. The object of our faith is what matters. Faith that lasts and is genuine must be in the most trustworthy person. The object of my faith is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, the one who has always done what He said He would do.
Hebrews 11:1 gives us a good definition of faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” If we can see something it doesn’t take any faith to believe it. It is in our site and we can see the reality of it. However, there are several components to true faith. Today we will deal with the object of our faith.
The most important aspect of our faith is the object of our faith. In Matthew 8:5-10 we see the Roman centurion, a man who was important in the Roman army, the leader of 100 men. He was a Gentile, not a Jew who had been taught about God. But he had heard about Jesus, and he believed in Jesus. He came to Him for the healing of his servant. He did not ask Jesus to come to his house, but his faith was so strong that he believed if Jesus said the words his servant would be healed. This man was humble and did not consider himself worthy for Jesus to come to his home. Jesus knew his heart and declared that this man had more faith than all of those in Israel.
Matthew 8:5-10 “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
What is the object of your faith? We all have faith in something. If you say your faith is in Jesus, is it because you know Him personally or because you have heard about Him in church, on social media, or a TV program? Is your theology from a song you heard of is it based on what you have sought out from the Bible? If your belief is based on what you have heard I challenge you to find out for yourself who and what are the truths about Jesus. Start by reading the book of John, soak up and meditate on everything you read about Jesus. Get to know Him in a personal way based on the truth of the word. That is the only way that you can have true faith. It is the only way that the object of your faith can become real and trustworthy to you. Many have fallen away from Christ never to return because they believed something about God that wasn’t true. They expected Him to act in a way that fit their belief. When that did not happen, they became angry at God like a spoiled child. God loves us and will always do what will help to conform us to be like Jesus. He is not a Jennie in a bottle that can be manipulated to get what we want. Because expectations were based on false knowledge, the belief system of many is destroyed. True faith must be based on the God of the Bible not the God of our thinking. True faith must be sought after by each individual.
