One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of Hebrews. The book is so rich with truth, too much to go into in a short blog or two, but today as I was running errands and praying (with my eyes open), a verse from chapter twelve popped into my mind. “Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…” Other versions replace Authorwith Initiator, Founder, Pioneer, Source, and more. The writer in me likes “Author” best, for obvious reasons. There is no greater Author than Yeshua, Jesus. This verse brings me great comfort because it tells me that Jesus initiated, began, authored my faith. And not only has He begun the work in me, but he can be trusted to complete it. He is also the Finisher, Perfecter, Completer of that faith.
Authors write stories. And Yeshua has been writing stories from the very beginning. God is not only the author of every life, but the author of the best-selling book in the world, the Bible, and if you read it in its entirety, if you seek to understand the whole of it, you begin to see a story that weaves together in amazing ways.
Our lives are part of that story, each one a unique tale that begins when Jesus starts that work of faith in us. Philippians 1:6 says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Sometimes faith starts in the heart of a child but seems to get derailed along the way. But Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
The faith of a child is not something to be taken lightly. Jesus considered it of high value.
When I was a child, I understood faith very minimally. As I grew to adulthood, I grappled with many issues and ideas revolving around all that this faith requires, particularly the part about “not my will” and “trust His promises”. I believe those are two of the hardest things we face all of our lives.
But the really cool thing is that faith, whenever it begins (and I pray each one of us has that beginning by God’s grace), it doesn’t stay a beginning. It continues until Jesus completes it in the day of Christ/Messiah.
The Author always finishes the story. And His stories, every story of every life, are always amazing–if we let Him write them.
