Devotions

As we read Hebrews 11, we find a single common denominator to the lives of the people mentioned. Each had a particular characteristic that denotes the kind of faith God loves. What was this element? Their faith was born of deep intimacy with the Lord.

The fact is that it’s impossible to have a faith that pleases God without sharing intimacy with him. What do I mean by intimacy? I’m speaking of a closeness to the Lord that comes from yearning for him. This kind of intimacy is a close personal bond, a communion. It comes when we desire the Lord more than anything else in this life.

“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4, NKJV). I want to note several significant things about this verse. First, God himself testifies about Abel’s offerings. Second, Abel had to build an altar to the Lord where he brought his sacrifices. He offered not only unspotted lambs for the sacrifice but the fat of those lambs as well. “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat” (Genesis 4:4).

What does the fat signify here? The book of Leviticus says of the fat, “The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the Lord’s” (Leviticus 3:16). The fat was the part of the sacrifice that caused a sweet aroma to rise. This part of the animal caught flame quickly and was consumed; the fat here serves as a type of prayer or fellowship that’s acceptable to God. It represents our ministry to the Lord in the secret closet of prayer. The Lord himself states that such intimate worship rises to him like a sweet-smelling savor.

The Bible’s first mention of this kind of worship is by Abel. That is why Abel is listed in Hebrews 11’s ‘Hall of Faith.’ He’s a type of servant who was in fellowship with the Lord, offering him the best of all he had. As Hebrews declares, Abel’s example lives on today as a testimony of true, living faith: “He being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

Mark 4:35-41 relates a story of Jesus and his disciples in a boat, being tossed about on a stormy sea. As we pick up the scene, Christ has just calmed the waves with a single command. Now he turns to his disciples and asks, “How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40, NKJV).

You may think this sounds harsh. It was only human to be afraid in such a terrible storm, yet Jesus wasn’t chiding them for that reason. Look at what the disciples said to him as they awoke him. “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). They questioned his goodness and attentiveness to their situation.

Can you imagine it? Jesus’ own disciples didn’t know him. He had personally called each of these men to follow him, and they had ministered alongside him to multitudes of people. They’d witnessed his mercy to lepers and outcasts; they’d seen him gather little children and bless them. They’d seen all this and more, but they were still strangers to who their master really was.

He was telling them, “After all this time, you still don’t understand my nature. How could you possibly walk with me for this long, and not know me intimately?”

Tragically, the same is true today. Many Christians have ridden in the boat with Jesus, ministered alongside him and reached multitudes in his name. Despite all this, they really don’t know their master. They haven’t spent intimate time shut in with him. They’ve never sat quietly in his presence, opening their hearts to him, waiting and listening to comprehend what he wants to say to them.

We see another scene regarding the disciples’ faith in the Gospel of Luke. The disciples came to Jesus, requesting, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). Many Christians today ask the same question: “How can I obtain greater faith?” Unlike the disciples, though, they don’t seek the Lord himself for their answer.

So how did Jesus answer their request for faith? “Gird yourself and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken” (see Luke 17:6-8). Jesus was saying, in essence, “Put on your garment of patience. Then come to my table. I want you to feed me there. You happily labor for me all day long. Now I want you to commune with me. Sit down with me, open your heart, and learn of me.”

If you want increased faith, you must observe the Lord’s nature and patiently seek his presence.

Enoch enjoyed close fellowship with the Lord. In fact, his communion with God was so intimate that the Lord translated him to glory long before his life on earth might have ended. “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5, NKJV).

Why did the Lord choose to translate Enoch? The opening word of this verse tells us very plainly that it was because of his faith. Moreover, the closing phrase tells us Enoch’s faith pleased God. The Greek root word for ‘please’ here means fully united, wholly agreeable, in total oneness. In short, Enoch had the closest possible communion with the Lord that any human being after the fall could enjoy, and this intimate fellowship was pleasing to God.

The Bible tells us Enoch began walking with the Lord after he begot his son, Methuselah. Enoch was sixty-five at the time. He then spent the next 300 years fellowshipping with God intimately. To our knowledge, this man never performed a miracle, never developed a profound theology, never did any great works worthy of mention in scripture.

Instead, we read this simple description of the faithful man’s life: “Enoch walked with God.”

Hebrews makes it clear that Enoch was so in touch with the Father, so close to him in hourly communion, God chose to bring him home to himself. The Lord said to Enoch, in essence, “I can’t take you any further in the flesh. To increase my intimacy with you, I have to bring you to my side.” So he whisked Enoch away to glory.

How often do we pray for that level of deeper fellowship with God? How often do we long to meet with God? Enoch’s life is a wonderful testimony of what it means to truly walk in faith, and it should inspire us to prayer and longing.

Consider the way God himself described his relationship with Abraham: “Abraham my friend” (Isaiah 41:8, NKJV). Likewise, the New Testament tells us, “Abraham believed God…and he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23).

What an incredible commendation, to be called the friend of God. Most Christians have sung the well-known hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” These biblical passages bring home that truth with power. To have the Creator of the universe call a man his friend seems beyond human comprehension, yet it happened with Abraham. It’s a sign of this man’s great intimacy with God.

The Hebrew word that Isaiah uses for friend here signifies affection and closeness. The closer we grow to Christ, the greater our desire becomes to live wholly in his presence. Moreover, we begin to see more clearly that Jesus is our only true foundation.

The Bible tells us Abraham “waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). To Abraham, nothing in this life was permanent. Scripture says the world was “a strange place” to him. It was no place to put down roots. The heavenly country Abraham yearned for isn’t a place on earth. Rather, it is being home with the Father. You see, the Hebrew word for the phrase “heavenly country” is pater. It comes from a root word meaning Father. So, the heavenly country Abraham sought was, literally, a place with the Father.

Yet Abraham was no mystic. He was not an ascetic who put on holy airs and lived in a spiritual haze. This man lived an earthly life, heavily involved in the world’s affairs. After all, he was the owner of thousands of head of livestock, and he had enough servants to form a small militia. Abraham had to be a busy man, directing his servants and buying and selling his cattle, sheep and goats.

Yet somehow, despite his many business affairs and responsibilities, Abraham found time for intimacy with the Lord.

Years ago, I experienced a severe back injury. I used to do long-distance bike riding; but after the injury, I was unable to move like I had been before. I gained probably 20-25 pounds. That shocked me a bit, so I started working on getting my health back, exercising and trying to eat right. A serious problem is I hate vegetables. They’re awful, but I try to eat my greens. 

I have another problem too. Every time I start to lose weight, there’s a number that’s not as low as my original goal, but it’s where I begin to get satisfied. At first, losing weight is no problem, but then I hit that number like a roadblock. I can’t seem to get under it, and then my brain starts telling me, “Hey, you’re looking pretty good!” That last hurdle is the hardest part because I become satisfied with ‘good enough.’

This mentality is so dangerous for us because it leaves us without the fullness of what we desire. What’s worse, many of us have this in the church. 

We get a word on Sunday, or we hear an online sermon that blesses us, or we have lunch with a Christian friend who inspires our heart, and that’s good enough for us. We’re satisfied. Do any of you fill your car’s gas tank only three-quarters of the way? Or maybe you only fill it halfway? Who puts just a quarter of a tank of gas in the car? The Holy Spirit wants to fill us with life and life abundant, but many of us get a touch of the Spirit, and then we’re satisfied. We think, “Good enough.”

Let me tell you, half-fillings of the Spirit, yesterday’s fullness and partial measures of outpouring are insufficient in these wicked days. You will be beaten down and defeated. You will be overrun if you only take half measures.

What God has available for you is far beyond what you’ve ever dreamed, thought or imagined. The fullness of God is what he is holding for you so that you can truly experience the things of Jesus Christ. God wants to raise up a generation of his people who are full of his presence, those who will take a stand against the darkness and hear Christ say, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ESV).