Where is your faith?

“Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!” – Isaiah 31:1

We understand by the Word of God that every man is given a measure of faith.  Faith enough to save his own soul if that soul so chooses.  The question is not where is your faith?  That is to say if you have it or not; but rather, where is your faith?  As in, where have you placed it?  To what are you trusting in? 

It is a common practice in our nation today to “invest.”  Right now hundreds of thousands of Americans are taking their hard earned money and giving it to certain companies with the hope that those companies will grow and give them a return on their investment.  There are magazines, websites, television stations, and stock brokers out there trying to feed the common man information on where to place their funds.  This is because the key to making money in investing is investing in the right place.  The truth is we are all investing in something; in our kids, in our jobs, in our cars, in our homes, in ourselves, we put energy and effort into these things hoping for a return.  Wouldn’t it be nice if this nation spent as much or more time and energy seeking out information on where to put their faith, as they did on where to put their money?  God has given to every man a measure of faith, like a measure of seed to a farmer or a measure of flour to a baker this faith is given to us with a preconceived purpose.  The faith that is given has a predestined destination and like a seed; unless it is sown it “good ground” it will never bring forth life.  When you trust in horses and chariots; putting your faith in the things of this world, and go down to Egypt for help; it is ill placed and will never bring forth life.  When I was lost in sin, I had faith, but it was ill placed, it was faith in myself.  I was strong enough, fast enough, and smart enough to take on this life.  I was wrong.  There are many out there today who have faith, it is just ill placed; and because it is ill placed their faith is dead and their soul is in turn dead as well.  If you place a watermelon seed on the side walk would you expect to come back several months later and find a watermelon?  You would find nothing, because the faith is ill placed and therefore the fruit is forever absent.  However if you sow in good soil, water and care for that seed, by and by you will have fruit.  So it is with your faith, when sown in the right soil, so the question is not: “Do I have faith?” It is “Where is your faith?”  The location of it determines the life or death of your soul.

Thankfully, the Bible not only tells us that we have faith, but also where to put our faith.  We must place our given, predestined faith in Jesus Christ.  How do we do that?  Well, let us look to the greatest instruction our hands can hold, our Bibles.  The 11^th chapter of Hebrews gives of many examples of people who “invested” their faith in the right place.  Their faith had two ingredients, belief and obedience.  They accepted what God told them to be true and they obeyed without question.  A lot like kids do right?  Not quite, but it’s what good parents would like them to do.  So our heavenly Father wishes the same for us.  He wants us to believe His Word and obey.  In believing and obeying Jesus Christ and the word he has left on record for us, our well placed faith will come to life and bear much fruit.