We are taught in God’s word that faith is necessary to be pleasing to God. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

We also are told how to get faith: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Some people have a misunderstanding about faith. They think that faith amounts only to believing in God. While this is a necessary part of faith, there is more involved.

Abraham was a great man of faith; notice what was said of him: “…Abraham believed God….” He did as God commanded. When he was told to leave the people of his father, he went. When he was told to offer Isaac on Mt. Moriah, the Bible says “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3). He had faith that God would take care of his son. The writer of Hebrews said of Abraham, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:17-19). This is the kind of faith that one must have before they can learn to trust in God.

When one learns to trust in God, this life is easier to live. The world worries itself into frenzy over many different things. Some worry about money to the point that it becomes the focal point of their life. They will do whatever is necessary to gain their “fortune.” The Bible has much to say about this problem: “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Timothy 6:10). This quest for riches can cause one to leave God completely out of their life, thinking they are the one who is doing everything. Well might they remember the parable of the foolish rich man found in Luke 12:26-21.

God is the one that enables us to have the health and mind to go about our day-to-day life. The things of this life are only temporary; we have them to use for only the years of our lives, and then the things will belong to someone else. Those things can vanish quickly, and in the end, they will be burned up.

John gave good advice when he wrote by inspiration: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:15–17).