"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:22-23
This is a message that relates to another that James writes in his own letter, which is one of my favorites.
Faith is hard. For a strictly logically focused mind, faith can be counter-intuitive, with there being little to no instant, tactile rewards for faith. But, the epistle writers in the New Testament made sure to encourage all of their readers to continue in faith. This is because faith is the most important requirement for our relationship with God to strengthen.
I like that the word faith really only occurs in two places in common English parlance: religion and relationships. I don't think this is a coincidence at all, and I think there are many things we can learn about how to live religiously through the lens of a relationship. In American culture, one of the most celebrated, if not the most celebrated, things in life is the romantic relationship. I will admit that I put such an importance on romantic relationships almost immediately after coming out of the closet. Sure, my family joked about the necessity for them, specifically so that we could have new babies in the family, but I will say that most of the emphasis has been of my own doing. It was something that I strove for, going on countless dates, engaging in countless social meetups, and praying to God for.
Now that I am in a committed with a great boyfriend, I am learning more about myself. There are, of course, many things I need to learn in order to have our relationship continue to grow. However, the way that I learn about these things is by keeping up a constant communication between my boyfriend and me. Communication is the only way I'll be able to learn anything about him. Communication is also a great foundation for faith because it's an expression of interest in the other person. It shows that I am willing to learn more and get even closer. It also helps me keep my boyfriend in my mind.
Faith is much more important in our relationship with God, for God is the ultimate expression of love. We learn so much about how to treat those around us through the ways God has transformed us. However, we can allow for many different temptations to seize us at anytime, leading us away from our relationship with God. Perhaps the strongest factor leading to such an overwhelming attraction to temptation is a lack of knowledge of the beloved. When we wander around, knowing little to nothing about God, we start to find the things that we are looking for in other entities. When we find ourselves seeking to make ourselves better, we will look for the instant gratification that comes from money rather than God. When we look for satisfaction in our lives, we will look for self-destructive activities rather than edifying ones that we could find in God. In other words, we lead ourselves astray from God by our desire to remain ignorant of all the good that God is.
This passage from Hebrews reminds us that we have been transformed by God in ways that only make us better. God has cleaned us from every impurity that has infiltrated our lives. God has promised us love, life, success, and so many other things. And God is delivering on each of those promises every single day. We need to be listening to God speaking to us and answering our questions rather than our own voices that lead us astray. We need to ask God with the intent of seeking God out as opposed to just asking just for the sake of asking. We need to make God a part of our lives so that we can continue living in a faith that is rewarding for our life.
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