2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." It's such a simple short sentence but is often quoted in churches and at Bible studies. It sounds great, and it is great because it's the perfect Word of God! But how does it look in practical application, and how do we walk (live our lives) by faith and not by sight?
In the Gospel of John, chapter 11, Lazarus had just died and there was much sorrow. Seeing this sorrow, even our Lord Jesus wept (verse 35, shortest verse in our English New Testament) and shows us He understands our pain and sadness, and weeps for our troubles. Our Lord does not look down on us condescendingly when we show a lack of faith, for He loves us dearly.
Martha, the sister of Lazarus, told Jesus that if He had been present then Lazarus wouldn't have died (verse 21). Jesus replied that her brother will rise again, but Martha thought He was speaking of the resurrection of the dead at the last day (she knew the Scriptures! See Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2).
The response Jesus had to this is beautiful, amazing, and is a perfect example of what it means to walk by faith rather than sight.
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
Read it again: Whosoever liveth and believeth in Jesus Christ shall never die.
Oh how our eyes have deceived us when we have seen the body of someone who loved Jesus and thought they were dead! Our Lord said otherwise. We don't walk by sight because the world is full of deception and wickedness. We walk by faith, by believing the words of our Creator over things our own senses tell us.
This is why Paul wrote, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
When our bodies eventually fail, we will be immediately with the Lord and more alive than we have ever been on this cursed Earth (2 Corinthians 5:8).
D. L. Moody said, "Someday you will read in the papers that Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I was born of the flesh in 1837, I was born of the spirit in 1855. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit shall live forever.”
Heavenly Father, please help to grow our fragile faith that we may believe your words above all else.
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