The Lighthouse Devotional
Author: Lindsay Arthur
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
“For we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7 NIV).
PERSONAL REFLECTION
Humans tend to believe what we can see only. In other words, if we do not see something with our naked eye and understand it with our intellect, it does not exist and cannot be true. This understanding of reality is the premise upon which the idiom “seeing is believing” is based. However, the Bible implores us to interact differently with each other and with God.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
In the Gospels, Jesus disapproves of people’s little faith: (i) they worry about what to eat, drink, and wear instead of trusting God to satisfy their needs (Matt 6:30; Luke 12:28); (ii) they fear bad weather, even when Jesus is with them (Matt 8:23–27; cf. 14:28–33); (iii) they become confused by what they do not readily understand (16:8–12); (iv) they are unable to exercise the authority Jesus has given them (17:19–21; cf. 10:1); and (v) they worship Jesus while harboring doubt (28:17).
In today’s Scripture passage, Paul affirms that Christians must walk by faith, not sight. He contrasts a lifestyle of “seeing” with one characterized by faith in Jesus Christ, whom they can no longer see. For Jesus says, “blessed are those who have not seen [me] and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Peter, too, praises diaspora Jews who, though not having seen Christ, love and believe in him and experience joy and salvation because of their faith in him (1 Pet 1:8).
Living by faith is an expression of our collective understanding that while we no longer see Christ physically, we believe that he is with us and that, eventually, we shall be with him. Paul reinforces this truth when he talks about having Christian hope: “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Rom 8:24–25).
EXHORTATION
We, who have experienced God’s grace through faith in Christ (Eph 2:8–9), look forward to seeing Christ and being with him in God’s eternal kingdom. Until then, we live by faith—having confidence in what we hope for but do not yet see (Heb 11:1)—trusting and believing God to fulfill His plan of redemption, raising us with Christ and seating us with him in heavenly places (Eph 2:6).
PRAYER
Father, our hope is in Christ, our faith is in him, and we trust in him only for our salvation. Help us remain steadfast in our faith, so we do not stumble and lose our way. Let Your will be done in and through us. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.