Hebrews 6:12 "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

Noah beleived what God said about the coming flood, even though he had never seen rain, and built an ark to escape it (11:7). Abraham beleived what God said about inheriting a foreign place, and left his old way of life and went (11:9). He also beleived what God said about the Messiah being born through Isaac's offspring, and when commanded to offer him as a sacrafice, obeyed, clinging to the promise  (11:17-18). Moses, who had prestige among the Egyptians, chose to forsake it and face disgrace for the reward of being counted among the people of God (11:24-25). And the list goes on, people who clung with expectant hope to God's promises. They were so convinced of these that they bet their entire lives on the promise and the future reward.

Hebrews 11:13 says about these people, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country---a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Because of the certainty of God's promises of our heavenly reward, let us bet our entire lives on these promises. Let us not look to the temporary gain around us, but run with pateience, counting on the surety of the day that the reward will come.

"You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions" (10:34).

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (10:23-24).

When I was learning to drive, I focused my eyes right in front of the car, trying so hard to keep the car in between the lines. But it didn't work, I constantly had to adjust my car, as it quickly trailed off course. But then, when I switched my focus away from right in front of my car to a fixed point in the distance, my car stayed unswervingly within the lines.

Likewise in this world, this is not my home. I am promised something greater, that i must take by faith and build my whole life off of it, waiting patiently in certain hope. I must switch my gaze off the world and distractions around and fix my eyes on the eternal and "on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1). Then the things of this world will become strangely dim.