“These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13, CSB).

According to the Hebrews writer, the presence of faith is based on the coexistence of hope. In fact, hope is the essential element of faith: “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (vs. 1).

You can’t have faith if there is no hope! Then, faith provides certainty to your hope, enabling you to believe in a reality you don’t see.

Yes, that’s the thing about faith–it’s blind! Because if you can see it, you can’t hope for it!

The members of the Faith Hall of Fame described in Hebrews 11 are characterized by having a hope for something unseen beyond what their life on this earth offered: “But they now desire a better place–a heavenly one”(vs. 16).

This hope for something they couldn’t see became a reality that they lived out in their lives through faith. For example, if Abraham was looking for an earthly homeland, he could have returned to his hometown of Haran. Instead, he followed God’s promise and went to live as a foreigner in the land of Canaan, the land he believed God had promised to him and his descendants.

People who have faith are hopeful people. And, the homeland you hope for is no longer on Earth but in Heaven. When you become a Christian, you have hope for eternal life and faith makes it the new reality that you live for.

Consequently, when you become a Christian you have joined the ranks of the hopeful and have been admitted to the Faith Hall of Fame. Like Abraham and your fellow Faith Hall of Fame members, you have acknowledged that this world doesn’t offer what you are looking for because you are “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (vs. 10).

Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6, CSB)