Posted by Devotional for Today, November 18, 2025
Topic: He Lived by Faith, Not by Sight
Verse: “When the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem.” – Luke 9:51 (NIV)
Still on our “We Owe a Personal Debt” series, today’s devotional is on how Jesus lived by faith, not by sight — and how this becomes a pattern for those who belong to Him.
When Jesus “set His face toward Jerusalem,” He was not heading toward comfort. He was walking into rejection, betrayal, the cross, and the heaviness of the sins of the world. Yet He moved with certainty because His eyes were on the Father’s will, not on what the moment looked like. This is the purest definition of faith: choosing God’s direction even when the path doesn’t look easy, logical, or safe.
If we are to pay the debt we owe God — the debt of living as Jesus lived — then faith must become our posture. Faith is not a feeling you wait for; it is a conviction you stand on. Faith is what holds you when circumstances tempt you to retreat. Faith is what steadies your steps when answers seem delayed. Faith is what helps you obey God even when your heart is trembling.
The writer of Hebrews explains this beautifully: “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). This is not optional. It is the believer’s code of conduct. Just the way professions have rules that guide how they function, faith is part of our divine rulebook. It is how we live out the life entrusted to us.
Jesus did not live by what He saw around Him. He lived by what the Father said. He trusted the Father’s plan, the Father’s timing, the Father’s power, and the Father’s promise. That is why He could say with confidence, “Not My will, but Yours be done.” Faith made Him surrendered. Faith made Him stable. Faith made Him victorious.
Why is this important?
Because without faith, we cannot follow Jesus. Without faith, obedience collapses. Without faith, prayer becomes weak. Without faith, fear has too much room. Without faith, we reduce God to our anxieties instead of elevating Him above our worries.
The Scriptures remind us, “The just shall live by faith” – Hebrews 10:38. This means faith is not a season; it is our lifestyle. And this lifestyle grows as we keep choosing to trust what God has said over what we feel, what we fear, or what we can explain.
Prayer for the Day
Father, teach me to live by faith the way Jesus lived. Help me to trust Your word above my fears, my feelings, and my understanding. Strengthen my heart to walk in obedience, to choose Your will even when it stretches me, and to keep my eyes on You in every season. I receive grace to live by faith and not by sight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.