A Heart Blinded By Vision

I’m not sure but I believe the Lord is going to have me write more on pragmatism; we shall see…for now let me say that our eyes are sometimes our worst enemy.

What we see can overcome what we know. As a Christian that can be devastating to our walk with Christ.

Every Christian knows the following verse; however very few actually live it out:

    “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

I think we should spend a little time on this verse and dissect it a bit. I’ve never heard a detailed sermon on the meaning of the verse only what it means to our Christianity. Most Christians fall woefully short of the impact this verse should have on our Christian walk.

First of all the KJV and NKJV transliterates the Greek word hypostasis as “substance.” That gives off the idea of an ingredient or foundation. Foundation is a good basis to look at this passage, but hypostasis loses its impact with that translation. A better translation, found in the NASB, ESV, and Amplified Bible is “assurance.”

My New Greek/English Interlinear New Testament translates Hebrews 11:1 thusly:

    “Is now faith [the] assurance [of things] being hoped for, [the] conviction of things not having seen.” (Emphasis added)

That is a literal translation with the words in brackets being added to help in the English translation.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for…

In what do you place your hope?

Every pro-family parachurch organization puts its hope in Washington D.C.

Most conservative politicians, pundits, and people put their hope in Washington D.C.

The majority of Christian churches today put their hope in Washington D.C.

On November 4, 2008 I put my hope in Washington D.C. by voting for John McCain while I knew he was not the right person for the presidency.

Putting our hope in Washington D.C. is the impetus for political pragmatism.

Putting our hope in Washington D.C. is the rationalization for voting for the lesser of two evils.

None of that can be found in the Bible nor is it “the evidence of things not seen.”

It is a vacuum of faith and it is caused by looking with our eyes instead of our heart. Far too many Christians, me included, have a heart blinded by vision. We see the political, economic, social, and local landscape and it convinces our wicked hearts that WE have to do something about it. Now I am not advocating not voting; it is our duty to vote. However we must be involved in the process all the time, not just in November every two years (for those who actually vote in the off-year congressional elections) or in the primaries (ditto); we must be involved at all times.

That involvement must be grounded in a faith that what God teaches us in His word must be obeyed and that obedience will bring a blessing not only to our personal lives but also to our nation. That is how we were founded as a nation. Our Founding Fathers had a hope in God and in the birth of our nation that if a virtuous people would live by the rule of law then our nation would prosper.

But we as a nation and the American church have long lost that hope. They no longer hope in God; they hope in Washington D.C. The sad part of that is we do so thinking it is the right thing to do and we have less peace and tranquility in our lives and in America than ever before. There is reason for that:

    “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

Now hope does not disappoint…oh but it does when you hope in the wrong things or persons. That is the disappointment in America today. We have hoped in the wrong things and every stop along the way has been filled with disappointment.

Make yourself a stair step and at the bottom floor put hope; next put perseverance; next character; and at the top step put hope.

Any questions? That is the course we must take but the problem is most Christians refuse to persevere much less glory in tribulations.

An old Caedmon’s Call song has a line that says “I will walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes.”

Eyes of faith will never blind one’s heart and you will have grace to walk in the midst of tribulations all the while being transformed into a faithful saint as described in Hebrews 11.

Beloved, pray for me that the Holy Spirit will give me eyes of faith to write what He wants us to see.

Pray for yourselves that you will read and receive the Truth as God reveals it to each of you through His Word.

It is time to take the scales off our hearts.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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