Living buy faith …

The backbone of the American economy has long-ago shifted from manufacturing to being the world’s leader in providing a broad array of service industries.

It’s not simply that Americans provide services for purchase, but we live by purchasing services.

We pay people to launder our clothes, mow our lawns, change the oil in our cars, decorate our homes, fix our appliances, mend our clothes, bathe our pets, clean our pools, cut our hair, paint our nails, massage our aching muscles, cook our meals, clean our houses, make our coffee, move our furniture, entertain us, match us with a mate, plan our weddings, tutor our children, mentor our careers, manage our money, compute our taxes, care for our ailing parents, and even to serve others in our place.

We’ve developed a culture in which we buy the kind of lives we want to live, and maintain it with monthly payments, service fees, donations, and other financial outflows. There’s even the option of automatic deduction from our bank accounts for services so we don’t even have to experience making the payments!

Sometimes, we even try to buy our faith.

Probably the most famous story of a couple who wanted to live “buy faith” is found in Acts 5. The first two verses of that chapter introduce the story:

“But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.”

When we try to buy life, we pay others to do the work so we can be provided with the comforts of life without the strains of it. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to live buy faith, giving enough to have the appearance of a genuine Christian walk without experiencing the whole cost of it. The result was immediate for both of them; when confronted by the Apostle Peter about their faux charity, they dropped dead (see verses 3-10)!

Trying to live “buy faith” cannot achieve what only living “by faith” can.

Things ended poorly for Ananias and Sapphira because of their attempt to live buy faith. In contrast to that story is Hebrews 11, which provides us with a list of men and women who are singled out as examples for us because they chose to live “by faith.” In some of the most difficult and extreme experiences human beings can face, these spiritual giants chose to face the entire cost of obedience and allegiance to God. Their lives have a rich, enduring legacy because they lived by faith rather than buy faith.

Long after Ananias and Sapphira were buried, many are still trying to live buy faith. Some are willing to take the narrow path of following Christ by faith. Which one are you pursuing?

Scotty