Walking By Faith
Ponder: What does it mean to walk by faith?
Scripture: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7a, NKJV).
Noah built the ark “by faith” (Hebrews 11:7). Since “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17), it follows that acting by faith means doing as God instructs. “And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him” (Genesis 7:5).
Walking by faith today is submitting to God’s will revealed in the New Testament. The command to build an ark obviously doesn’t apply to us. Likewise, Noah was not expected to be baptized or observe the Lord’s Supper as we are. Walking by faith, however, is a timeless principle.
God told Noah, “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood” (Genesis 6:14). That Hebrew term doesn’t pertain to the rodents that damage your lawn; rather, it refers to a tree, perhaps in the cypress family. Noah might have thought cedar smelled better, or that knotty pine looked better; but God specified gopher, so using a different tree would not have been walking by faith.
God did not tell Noah how to cut the trees or join the planks together; Noah could use his judgment on such issues. God’s specific words, however, could not be altered or amended.
Today, God has told us to be immersed (Acts 2:38). If we walk by faith, we cannot substitute sprinkling or pouring. We may be immersed in a river, pond, lake, tub, or ocean, for God’s word does not specify.
Christians are instructed to sing and make melody with our hearts (Ephesians 5:19). If we walk by faith, we cannot add musical instruments. We may sing in unison or harmony, by memory or with song books; God did not specify, and all of these fulfill the command to sing.
These principles are not difficult; we use them daily. “Son, go to the grocery store and buy a dozen eggs.” Your son might walk to the store, or ride his bicycle. He might go to Safeway or Albertson’s. But he had better go to the grocery store, not the hardware store; and he had better buy a dozen eggs, not a dozen candy bars!
May God help us all to walk by faith!