It was Monday morning. We had a great breakfast and clean up time was over. The girls had done their best to prepare for cabin inspection. Now it was time for one of my favorite parts of the day at Maywood Christian Camp. It was Bible class time.
There were some young ladies in our class whom I'd never met. As we introduced ourselves, I learned that a few of the girls were from a town very close to my own home. In fact, I have several close friends who attend the same congregation these young ladies do.
The class lesson centered on faith. Our camp books are written by one who loves God's Word and who obviously loves young people. The author tries to word the lessons so that young minds can relate to the Truth in a real and practical way.
Naturally I don't remember everything that was said that day. It was at least a couple of years back. But I do remember we discussed Hebrews chapter 11 - verses 1 & 6 in particular. We talked about the definition of faith according to Hebrews 1:1. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." NKJV
We said our hope of heaven is based on -- made up of -- our faith. We mentioned that without faith in Christ and His resurrection we have no hope. The English Standard Version uses the word assurance instead of substance. It is through our faith we have a confident expectation (assurance) we will one day live with Christ eternally.
We also talked about faith being the evidence of things not seen. Instead of evidence, the ESV uses the word conviction. Faith in God constitutes a way of life. Our lives should show we are convinced of things our eyes have yet to see.
A good explanation is found in verse 3 - "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."
Although I can't remember everything we said, I do remember stressing these verses as well as Hebrews 11:6 which is one of my favorites. It was important to my teaching partner and me to do our best with this lesson. We had a great class.
Time was up and the girls prepared to leave. As one of them stood up she said, "That's her favorite word, you know."
"Whose favorite word," I asked.
"Mrs. _______. You said you're friends? She's our Sunday school teacher. Faith is her favorite word."
"Oh that's right it is." One of the other girls chimed in. "She told us that."
"She talks about faith a lot."
I couldn't help but smile. I was so happy the girls had shared this with me and I couldn't wait to find the time to text my friend. I wanted to tell her what her students had said. I had a feeling she would be as excited as I was.
See no matter what age group we teach, we often wonder if anything we say gets through to our students. Bible class teachers teach for one reason. It is because they love Christ and His truth. They want others to know about Him.
So hearing a student is talking about the class - about what they have learned -well, it is a wonderful feeling. I know my friend pretty well. She loves her students and she loves teaching. It seemed like they knew her pretty well too.
She would be happy to know they remembered what she taught them. But not because she was the one who taught them -- the point isn't who the teaches the class. The point is the lesson learned. And that is why my friend would be happy - because her students had learned an important principle of the Truth.
We have to examine ourselves daily. Do people know what our favorite word is? We don't have to teach a Bible class for them to know. But what we do should reflect our faith and love for God. Our family, friends and co-workers should know we are Christians. It should be obvious God comes first in our life.
Are we rising to the challenge of Christianity? We need the kind of faith the Holy Spirit tells us about in Hebrews 11. Our faith should be strong enough to lead us to hope -- to have a confident expectation of a life in heaven.
Our lives-- our daily walk -- in this world should be evidence of a God who is very real but can't be seen. We can know God rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). And we understand our faith leads us to do the seeking. And that seeking Him means obeying His commands?
So what is your favorite word?
Christ above all things,
Robin
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