Read the Bible

A Heapin' of Faith

¹ Now faith is being full of hope and plumb certain of what lies over the hill that we cannot see. ² Back in the old days, this is what people lived by and that brought a smile to God's face.

³ It's faith that helps us see that God made everything in the universe and we don't need more explanation than that.

⁴ It was Abel's heapin' of faith that helped him bring a sacrifice to God that was worthy of what it was supposed to be. Cain's was not. Abel's sacrifice showed his faith in God and God showed his approval. Even though Abel has long been in the grave, his example still speaks.

⁵ It was because Enoch had a heapin' of faith that he was taken up to heaven without dying. Before he left, he had a reputation as being someone God admired. ⁶ You can't please the Boss without a heapin' of faith, because in order to knock on his door you must believe that he's there and he surely gives favors to those who know where to look and who to ask.

⁷ It was by a heapin' of faith that Noah built him a big boat for his family to ride out the storm that wiped everyone else out. It was as simple as listening to God and doing what he said—even though no one had even heard of such a thing happening before. Noah's faith was the dividing line between who was saved and who was lost.

⁸ It was by a heapin' of faith that Abraham saddled up and rode off to new country like God told him to. God said there was a great inheritance waitin' on him. He rode off without a clue as to where he was going. ⁹ Even when he rode in to the new country, he lived there purely by faith in their cowboy teepees. Same goes for his kids, Isaac and Jake. They received the same promise their daddy had. ¹⁰ But what ol' Abe was really waiting on was a city with foundations that would last forever built by God's own hands.

¹¹ It was by a heapin' of faith that Abe's wife Sarah was able to have a kid. She was way too long in the tooth and she was dry to boot. A child had to come from God and she believed that God keeps his word. ¹² A whole new nation came from one old cowboy with one foot in the grave. This new people, God's own people, numbered more than the rocks in the rivers and the stars in the sky. You couldn't have counted them any easier than counting every blade of grass in a hundred years' worth of hay bales.

¹³ All of them died, but they died with God's promise of a better life on their lips. They didn't get it in their lifetime, but they got to see it and it made them glad. They knew they were just day hands on this earth and that their home was in the next life. ¹⁴ It's obvious these day hands were looking forward to a ranch they could call their own. ¹⁵ If they hadn't, they'd have ridden back to the sorry ranch they came from and forgot all about what was to come. ¹⁶ But no, they set their eyes on something bigger and better that was just over the final hill—their forever home in heaven. And it is there that God is waiting on his hands. He ain't ashamed to call them his crew and he has something amazing waiting on them.

¹⁷ It was a whole heapin' of faith that allowed Abe to offer up his only boy Isaac as a sacrifice. God wasn't really going to let him do it. With great promises come great tests. ¹⁸ Abe knew God had promised him that through Isaac he would have descendants. ¹⁹ You ain't got to understand everything to have a heapin' of faith. If Isaac did die, Abe knew God had the power to bring him back. And in a way, that's what happened.

²⁰ It was through a heapin' of faith that Isaac blessed his sons, Jake and Esau.

²¹ It was because of a heapin' of faith that in Jake's last days, he blessed each of his grandsons while worshiping God and leaning on his sortin' stick.

²² It was by a heapin' of faith that during Joseph's last days on earth, he knew for certain all his people would leave Egypt. He even told them to take him back and bury his bones in the land that had been promised.

²³ It was by a heapin' of faith that Moses's momma hid him in the brush for three months after he was born. They knew Moses was a gift from God and was something special so they defied the king's order.

²⁴ It was by a heapin' of faith that Moses didn't want to be known as the son of the Pharaoh's daughter. ²⁵ He chose to share the burden of his own kin instead of the pleasures of sin. He figured it was better to ride hard for the Lord rather than take it easy with the gold and sin of Egypt. ²⁶ He swapped the glamorous trinkets of Egypt for the suffering of Christ. The easy way down here leads to a box canyon while the hard trail leads to life everlasting. ²⁷ It was a heapin' of faith that helped Moses ride away from Egypt without giving a second thought to what the king would say about it. Faith helps you keep an eye on the one who cannot be seen. ²⁸ It was a heapin' of faith that helped Moses command all the cowboys and cowgirls of Israel to put blood on the doorposts so the assassin angel wouldn't get their firstborn boys.

²⁹ It was by a heapin' of faith that the cowboys and cowgirls of Israel rode right through the Red Sea like they were on a dry trail. When the Egyptians tried to follow, they were swallowed up and drowned.

³⁰ It was by a heapin' of faith that the cowboys and cowgirls rode around Jericho for a week and then the walls of the town crumbled.

³¹ It was by a heapin' of faith that a whore named Rahab helped two Israelite spies and in return she was allowed to escape the calamity that fell on the city. All those who didn't trust in God were destroyed.

³² What more can I say? We don't even have time to talk about the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the rest of God's cowboys. ³³ It was a heapin' of faith that made them overthrow kings, lead with justice, and receive God's promises. The mouths of lions were closed, ³⁴ flames of fire were put out, and the edge of the sword bore no harm. Weaknesses became strengths and the strengths won battles and scourged entire armies. ³⁵ Cowboys who were thought dead even rode back to the gals who were waiting on them.

But not everyone fared so well. Some were killed because they wouldn't turn their backs on God. They could have lived, but they chose to receive the reward that's waiting in the next life instead of the continued pain of this one. ³⁶ Many cowboys and cowgirls were made fun of and ridiculed. Their backs were torn to ribbons by the whip while others wasted away in chains. ³⁷ Others were killed by stones or pulled in half, while many died by the sword. Some had only animal skins for clothes and wandered the land as outcasts without friends or family. ³⁸ These folks were too good for this world even though they had to live in holes in the mountains and deserts.

³⁹ These cowboys and cowgirls were never able to tie on fully to the promise of God. ⁴⁰ God had something better in mind. He had them wait for us so we could all unite in faith together to receive the blessing together as one.