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    by Rebecca Livermore

Walk by Faith, Not by Sight
Date Posted: May 2, 2007
For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7 NJKV).

The verse above is a common one. We hear this so often, it's easy to not think about what it really means. Because of that I wanted to look at it in a couple of other translations. Below are two of them.

For we walk by faith [regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance (2 Corinthians 5:7 Amplified Bible).

That is why we live by believing and not by seeing (2 Corinthians 5:7 NLT).

The first thing I have to consider as I look at this verse is that the "that is why" (in the NLT) is there. What is why? To see the answer to that, I have to go back to the verses preceeding it, which talk about being absent with the body and present with the Lord. This gives us a clue about the first step of walking by faith -- in order to do so, we need to have a focus on that which is eternal rather than that which is temporal.

Having that out of the way, I want to look more closely at what the verses say in the two translations above. The main thing that stands out to me is from the Amplified: "[regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor.]"

This caused me to consider what regulates my life. Do I really regulate my life and conduct myself by a conviction respecting man's relationship to God?

That's something to think about and something I want to leave with you today -- what regulates your life and conduct? Are the decisions you make and the things you do based on convictions relating to your relationship with God, or are they a result of simple impluses which are done without really thinking about God?

For most people there is a mix of the two. For example, at times we make decisions based on our relationship with God, and other times we simply act impulsively, without regard to God and His word. At least a partial key seems to lie in the choice to spend time daily in God's Word, allowing it to transform our hearts and minds. That is certainly a step in the right direction, and one I'd like to encourage you to strive to do daily.

Father, we pray that You will help us to indeed walk by faith, not by sight. Help us to focus more on the eternal than the temporal, and as we do, help us to regulate our lives in view of man's relationship with You. Help us to base all of our decisions on who we are in relationship with You. -Amen.

Thought: In your journal write about what regulates your life. If you don't like to journal, spend some time in prayer on this matter.

"Voice of Inspiration" from Andy Castro

Psalms 91:11

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Biography Information:
Rebecca Livermore is a speaker and freelance writer from Denver, Colorado. Her passion is helping people grow spiritually. To learn more about her ministry, and to read her articles on spiritual disciplines, visit http://www.rebeccalivermore.com.
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