Part of today’s passage says this: “Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.” (verse 22)
This passage should teach us that we should not take our faith for granted or think that saying we have faith means we indeed have faith. True faith is a perseverant faith, the kind that is illustrated by Abraham’s faith, because it is the example of the root of a productive tree in which, we, the believers of today have been grafted in by the only grace of God: “For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches” (verse 16). Today, many believers’ main problem is shallow faith. My brother, my sister, yes you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, just like the Israelites loved God… but, on what have you rooted your faith?
The Bible says we should continually trust in the Lord’s kindness, in other words, we should have a steadfast perseverance in faith. But, some believers have a ‘yoyo’ faith, which shows that their faith is not based on a solid foundation. Most people say they love God, and it’s true … they love Him on their own terms. And very often, it’s because when they accepted the Lord, it was because they were sick, they were depressed, they were going through a difficult situation, they expected something from Him… and since that specific something still has not been answered and God who knows everything also knows why He takes His time to answer them, they make themselves spiritual beggars who wander here and there because their faith is based on sensations and feelings, not on the holy firstfruit of faith that the Lord wants us to have. Yet, no one can please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). Unfortunately too, faithlessness and unbelief have not started today among God’s people: we see throughout the Bible that some of Jews have been broken off because of faithlessness while some Gentile believers who were wild have been grated in Abraham’s tree, the firstfruit of faith that was holy. You see, our faith should be rooted on the tree’s nourishment that comes from the Word of God and on nothing else, because we are all “partakers of the root and fatness of the olive tree” of God (verse 17). Nevertheless, many people try to live their Christian life based on their feelings, on what they see or what they hear outside the Word of God. No, if your faith in the Lord is rooted on the firstfruit which is holy, then your faith will be holy because the Bible says: ” For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches…” (verse 16).
On what tree do the branches of your faith take it roots from? Is it in the holy firstruit of faith in the Lord? If it is not the case, my friend, and you still find yourself behaving as a faithlessness person, hopping here and there looking for sensations or miracles, then also know that this question is for you too: “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Yes, some people sometimes want to take a break from their walk with the Lord. Imagine Jesus returns while you are on that break… in your walk with Him. How can someone whose faith is truly rooted in the firstfruit desire a break off its source? Today’s passage says: “remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you” (verse 18). How can a root be supported while it is rooted nowhere? That’s the reason why many believers see their faith wavering and never becoming steadfast. Today read the Bible to understand what it says of people who really had faith (Hebrews 11:1-39): ” All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth” (Hebrews 11:13). Yes, only consistency is a proof of the reality of faith and a by-product of salvation, not a means to salvation. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.