one step: Hebrews 11.4

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

How much do you value stability? Often we look for stable jobs, stable relationships, stable cell phone service, and stable, well, you name it. Perhaps those things that are stable feel safe and predictable. They allow us to maintain an illusion of control and to think about other things.

Hebrews 11 reminds us that Moses was raised in the picture of comfort, safety, and stability. He was raised as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. In this position, Moses would have been viewed as an heir to the throne.* He enjoyed social status (fame, if you will), enjoyment, and riches.* It was a very cushioned life. Born a Hebrew slave, for some, knowing his story might have been a classic rags-to-riches story worth celebrating. There was more to his story, however.

In the middle of his ease, something caused him to throw all of his affluence away: he held a value system that was totally counter to his culture.* Where did this value system come from? It came from his parents. The author of Hebrews tells us that Moses’s parents saw that Moses was special and did not fear Pharaoh or his edict to kill their babies.* By God’s grace, they were offered the opportunity to stay involved in his life even after giving him up, and scholars believe that their voice in his life attributed to his understanding of himself and the call of God on his life.* Acts 7:23 tells us that Moses knew his calling though the people of Israel did not see it or follow it at first.* He did not need the people of Israel to tell him who he was… he got that sorted out by God.

There is a culture that promises a version of comfort and pleasure. Some of us enjoy more of it than we realize. It isn’t until God asks us to give up those things for a higher calling do we realize how attached to status, enjoyment, and riches we are.

What is God asking you to do? What does His calling require you to give up? Is there a Moses calling on your life?

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to say “yes” to His call on your life. Perhaps today God is asking you to trade temporary enjoyment today for eternal impact through obedience. Maybe today God wants you to trust Him with your dreams for your life.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 11:23–29). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 583–587). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 159–160). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 379–381). Zondervan Publishing House.

one step: Hebrews 11.3

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Abel. Noah. Abraham. Sarah. Moses. The author of Hebrews tells us that they were people who walked by faith and died in faith. It sounds poetic, but the painful reality is that they did not see the promises of God to them come through them; they did not see God’s promises come to pass in their lifetime.

Think about Abraham: taking possession of the land, having many decedents, and the blessing of all nations would not come until after his lifetime.* This means that on his deathbed, he had to ask, “is God faithful?” Laying there, taking his last handful of breaths on this side of eternity, Abraham did not see what was promised. How is it possible that he held onto his faith?

Have you received a promise from God? How long have you waited? What if the wait is longer than your lifetime? What if you die before it’s fulfilled?

I spent my life pursuing a professional soccer career, and it never came to fruition. God closed every door. I met with a pastor about it because, though it was short of a promise from God, I genuinely believed that it was the call of God on my life. I couldn’t understand it. He asked me this, “what if the thing that you are pursuing is God’s call on your son’s or daughter’s life, and not your own?” I didn’t like that. You see, I didn’t have a generational perspective. I wasn’t married, and kids felt like a lifetime away. Now, I have two kids. I can tell you this: any promise that God has given to me, I am happy to pass to my children instead. I now have a legacy perspective.

Those listed in Hebrews 11 that did not receive their promise in this lifetime held more than a legacy perspective; they held an eternal perspective. Their faith grew to stretch beyond this life to a perspective on the reality of eternity.* Because of this, the author of Hebrews tells us, God was not ashamed to be called their God.*

The days and moments before their deaths, these individuals of faith did not lose their confidence because their posture was looking up toward who God is and forward to His ability to fulfill His promises.* In this, faith defies death.* Death cannot stop faith.

The secret to the patriarchs and matriarchs of the faith, the secret to their ability to hold onto faith without having seen the promises in their lifetime stems from this: the true object of desire of their hearts was not what God might do in their lives, but God Himself.* It’s natural to want what God might do for you; it’s holy to want God.

Guthrie says it this way:

Faith is confidence that results in action carried out in a variety of situations by ordinary people in response to the unseen God and his promises, with various earthly outcomes but always the ultimate outcome of God’s commendation and reward.

Ruth Haley Barton asks in her work Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership,

Could it be that the promised land is less about a physical destination or anything that is outward and more about a way of life and being that enables us to worship and love God fully?*

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to trust Him with both your future and His plans and promises for it. Perhaps today God wants you to pursue Him more than His promises. Maybe today God would have you shift from a temporal perspective or even a legacy perspective to an eternal perspective. Maybe today God wants to help you see that you are living another generation’s promises.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 11:8–19). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 568–571). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 154–155). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 378–379, 390). Zondervan Publishing House.
Barton, Ruth Haley, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2018), 215.

one step: Hebrews 11.2

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

In an effort to please God, we may try really, really hard to do everything right. One of three outcomes could emerge from this effort: 1) we realize that we are incapable of earning the pleasure of God and give up, resulting in turning away from Him, 2) we realize that we are incapable of earning the pleasure of God and give up, turn toward Him, and then rely on faith, 3) live in denial of our own imperfection, lying to ourselves about the quality of our achievements in an effort to convince ourselves that the pleasure of God has been achieved or can be achieved by human effort.

Unsurprisingly, it is through the second option that the author of Hebrews tells us that we are able to please God. But how does faith please God?

Faith is a fundamentally relational concept.* To have relationship, one must first trust that the other person exists (not an automatic in this world of online chatting and dating).* Second, one must trust that the other person will respond to you in a positive manner.*

James 2:19 tells us,

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Demons believe that God exists, but their response is fundamentally different than ours: they shudder. They fear the punishment that awaits them. They do not put faith in God.

To please God, we must believe that God’s response to us is positive. Said another way, to have faith that pleases God, we must believe in and receive the positive response of God that is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.

Knowing that faith involves looking up to God and forward to the promises of God (see one step: Hebrews 11.1), we see the posture that God likes to see.* The author of Hebrews takes the idea of faith further, however, stating that seeking is involved. What is it to seek something?

Seeking something isn’t a casual looking. When we look up toward God, and we look forward toward His promises, we are not invited to glance. The author of Hebrews uses the Greek word ekzētousin where we read “seek.*” It is a compound word that denotes an intense form of seeking.*

Perhaps you have thought about the things of God. Maybe you have talked to a friend a bit about God. Maybe you have spent an hour or a few hours searching online to discover something more about God and His ways. This is not seeking.

I believe that we live in a world that has largely forgotten how to seek. The kind of seeking that involves generations of study culminating in a departure from home to follow a star across the desert to find the Savior must be kept in perspective. It is a seeking more akin to cooking on a wood-built fire than an instantly satisfying microwave oven. This kind of seeking does not end when we find our Savior, but it continues in a life-time of walking with God.

A walk implies a journey in a certain direction at a certain pace.* It’s time to walk with Jesus. It’s time to seek Him.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to begin seeking God today. Perhaps today God wants you to take another step in your walk with Him. Maybe today God wants you to leave something behind to follow Him. Perhaps God wants you to put faith in Him by trusting that He is good and has good for you.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 11:4–7). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 551–556). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 150–151). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 376–377). Zondervan Publishing House.

one step: Hebrews 11.1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

What is reality? How can we know what is real? The present reality that we experience comes to us through imperfect senses such as sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. These senses often lie to us, giving us versions of reality that are incomplete or false. Our minds choose from various versions of our present experience to tell us what’s going on, using past experiences as a broken filter.

These experiences of present reality instantly fade into a space called “the past.” We look back at our past reality with our mind’s eye. This sense too proves imperfect. Distorted versions of the previous present reality linger in our minds as we hold onto the versions of the former present reality that suit us best. We remember ourselves to be stronger than we actually were, others to be harsher than they intended, and God to be whatever we project on Him to support our narrative.

The future reality is even more cantankerous. Based upon our imperfect perspectives on past and present reality, we project a version of the future that falls short of what is real. At times we allow fear to leverage our experiences and the experiences of others to paint a picture of what we insist we will one day see. Other times we find temporary solace in grandiose versions of what could come. Seldom do either versions of reality come to fruition, yet we seldom cease to play these games.

True reality exists in a realm that we cannot see or experience with our five senses. Hebrews 11 points to this other-reality as the author of Hebrews notes that the reality we know and experience birthed from an unseen world by the words of God. What is seen came fourth from what was unseen.* Furthermore, what is came from what was always; meaning, what we experience as reality today, though temporal and fleeting, came from the One who always was, is, and will be. The eternal essence of the One from whom all else flows promises a future of hope for those who believe in Christ.*

How do we access this reality? Faith.

Faith points up toward God and forward toward the future.* Faith gives us certainty of the reality that we cannot see because it either has not come to us from the future to the present, or because it operates in a spiritual reality other than the one we experience with our five senses.*

Stedman says,

Faith in God’s revelation is a way of grasping reality, without necessarily comprehending all the steps that may be involved.

Faith is not merely a human virtue owned by humanity.* No, it is the vehicle by which God delivers intervention to humanity.* Faith has no power but that it is placed in the One who has power.* Faith does not change anything at all, but it creates space for the One who can change everything to move and work in our present reality.* Faith isn’t unbridled, randomized, desire-driven grasping; it is forward-looking confidence tethered to a present spiritual reality.*

R. T. France tells us,

faith is being sure that what is hoped for will in fact take place, that however discouraging present appearances may be, there is a solid reality underlying them—the reality of God’s utterly reliable promises. Faith, in other words, relies on what God has said and acts on the basis of this firm hope, even when circumstances are against it.

Guthrie shares,

Some realities are unseen because they belong to the spiritual realm and some because they lie in the future, when that realm will break into the earthly sphere. In either case, the person of faith lives out a bold confidence in God’s greater realities… Faith is what looks at that created order and has a firm and resolute confidence in the God to whom it bears witness, who, though unseen, has provided a foundation for such a confidence through his mighty acts.

It is faith that allows the believer to move ahead despite great obstacles. It is faith that the author of Hebrews desires all readers of Hebrews to have above all else.*

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remember that a greater reality exists than the one you are now experiencing. Perhaps God wants you to stand on His promises with a renewed faith in Him and His words. Maybe today God wants you continue to persevere through obstacles, trusting that the future is His to hold. Perhaps today God wants to restore your confidence in Him.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 11:1–3). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 535–543). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 147–148). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 374–375). Zondervan Publishing House.

one step: Hebrews 10.4

For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I have used these words of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:35 to feel a better about situations where people hurt me. In an effort to release my own desire for revenge, I would tell myself, “God will take revenge for me.” I basically believed that God would look at my situation and bring justice by harming the other person in some way appropriate to their crime against me. It was amazing! It was like having a divine mafia who had my back and never missed any wrongdoing! In this sense, I could say with excitement, “Watch out! I’m not taking revenge! I’m dropping you into the hands of the Living God!”

The only problem with this approach is that God extends grace to all (including me), and He achieves justice by pouring out His wrath on Christ (Romans 3:21-26). God does not achieve justice by looking at how I am treated and paying back people for hurting me. So what does God mean in Hebrews 10:30-31 when He uses these words of Moses?

These two verses come as a part of the final warning of Hebrews against the one sin that is not forgiven: rejecting Christ.* Since, as the author of Hebrews has established, the greatest gift and covenant of all is that of Jesus Christ, it follows that the penalties of rejecting what Jesus did be great.* The “vengeance” that the author references has more to do with just punishment than petty payback.*

What makes the situation serious and fearful is that the One who holds us accountable is living.* We are not dealing with a dead law or a past historical figure that we desire to measure up to the ideals or memory of. We are held accountable by the Living God.*

There are sins that are committed out of ignorance or imperfection, but the author of Hebrews encourages us to fearfully consider that rejection of the gift of Christ is to accept the need for justice without Christ.* Christ paid the price of our sin; rejection of His payment means we choose to provide payment ourselves.

God is not interested in condemning humanity or going around paying back others for wronging us; God is interested in giving grace to all in the form of Jesus Christ. We must accept this gift. In accepting it, we can forgive those who wrong us by passing along that forgiveness.

It’s that serious.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to sit in the comfort of knowing that He is a Living God who sees your needs and cares. Perhaps God wants you to remember that because He is the Living God who sees your failings and wants to give you what you need to overcome. Maybe today God wants you to turn to Him for salvation. Perhaps today God wants you forgive someone knowing that you are forgiven. Maybe today God wants you to share Christ with someone you know because it’s that serious.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 10:26–31). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 516–518). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 140–141). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 355–358). Zondervan Publishing House.
Schrenk, G. (1964–). ἐκδικέω, ἔκδικος, ἐκδίκησις. In G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich (Eds.), Theological dictionary of the New Testament (electronic ed., Vol. 2, p. 445). Eerdmans.