Hebrews 11.2 honors those who lived by faith and received God’s commendation.

This should be the Christian’s highest desire: God’s commendation.

Above all God’s children should desire to hear their Father say, ‘this is My beloved child in whom I am well pleased.’ Three times the Father spoke these words to His Son Whose life was given so that others could live.

To receive such commendation a Christian must have faith in God while they live in obedience to God.

The Lord Jesus and all the people listed as examples in this chapter of the Bible obeyed God completely through the trying circumstances of their lives. They obeyed God because they had faith in God’s commitment to them and their best even though their circumstances were proving otherwise.

Faith is trusting God when life is screaming there is no God.

Faith is doing what God commands because we love Him and trust in His reward though our circumstances dictate other action in order to free us from their difficulty.

Few exhibit any real faith in God these days for we avoid situations that requires us to depend upon God. Furthermore few know the commands of God for rare is the person who spends a part of each of his days reading God’s Scriptures in order to know Him and His will so that he can obey it.

Just as the solder receives no medal unless he first goes through battle so the Christian will not receive any commendation who does not have faith in God tried by difficult circumstances.

Faith is believing in Scripture and God’s character then acting upon it when the world and life tell us to compromise and to do otherwise.