Examples of Faith

(meditation on Hebrews 11:1-40)

God made a world that none could see,
Something that wasn't came to be,
By faith, it's what we understand,
It came to be at God's command

Faith is hope and being sure,
It's hope we'll get what we aim for,
It's hope for seeing what isn't seen,
And what stands out for those who've been:

Abel had faith, God favoured him,
More than Cain and his first sin,
Abel's goodness speaks today,
For he did right and stayed that way

Enoch also, it is said,
Pleased the Lord for what he did,
Never found when he was dead,
No death for him for pleasing God,

Without faith it can't be done,
To satisfy the God of one,
Any one who knows the Lord,
Knows that faith is their reward

Noah too, he could not yet see,
The flood arriving presently,
He built an ark by faith alone,
By being right he rescued them

Abraham said 'yes' but didn't know,
Where he was going, what he would sow,
By faith he made it all his own,
The promised land became his home

A stranger in a far country,
He lived in tents, not a city,
The architect for where he stood,
Wasn't him, it was built by God

And Sarah, his wife, advanced in age,
Bore children by her husband's faith,
From one man then at his life's end,
Came as many as grains of sand

All these people lived by faith,
All their years they stayed the same,
They didn't get all straight away,
But saw ahead to better days

They left their countries far behind,
Where heaven was they set their minds,
God wasn't shamed to be their own,
For he had made them their new home

God made a test for Abraham,
He put his son for sacrifice,
Though God had said, 'It is by him,
Your offspring get their reckoning'

He reasoned: God the dead revives,
And so his son he did receive,
As saved by death, he got him back,
He didn't steer from God's true track

Isaac's faith came blessing sons,
Whose futures both had yet to come,
And Jacob blessed both Joseph's boys,
Till end of days he kept his cause

Joseph, when he time was due,
And days remaining were but few,
Spoke about the exodus,
And said his bones should be put thus

By faith it was Moses' was sent,
Hidden from sight by his parents,
They did not fear the king's edict,
And kept him safe by what they did

And Moses when he had grown,
Refused his title from the throne,
No fleeting sin could stop him then,
He looked ahead for things to come

By faith he left from Egypt's door,
Ahead, he knew, was his reward,
No king or vice could hold him back,
Unseen, the future was his track

Faith in Passover set his mind,
The blood was daubed for all his kind,
The firstborn died, yet God prevailed,
There was no touch for Israel

Faith made the Red Sea divide,
And drowned the ones who came behind,
By faith fell walls of Jericho,
A faithful army watched them go

Rahab, who was a prostitute,
Had faith when she did not refute,
The spies she gave a welcoming,
By faith she lived when they came in

Then Gideon, Barak, Sampson too,
Jephthah, David and Samuel,
Prophets as well, their faith remained,
Kingdoms were won and justice gained,

Promises kept, lion's mouths shut,
Fury quenched and swords rebut,
Weakness for them turned to strength,
And battles won by keeping faith

Others tortured through faithful strife,
Release for them was reborn life,
Stoning, sawing, sword deaths too,
They roamed the earth as destitute

Some were flogged and jeered in chains,
The world was not for them, their fame,
Came not by fortune or worldly goals,
They lived in deserts, caves and holes

All condemned for their beliefs,
No promises did they receive,
God did better things select,
So when we'd meet we'd be perfect.

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