On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have the challenging honor of caring for my 1-year-old granddaughter. We drop “Gaga” off at the school and head for the office at Shamrock Church of Christ. To say the least, I need to rearrange that office space to be more baby friendly. She basically runs laps around the desk and picks up things from the lower shelves while I pretend to be getting something done. Yesterday (Tuesday, the 15th), I was attempting a rather simple task: I was counting the number of times Abraham is said to have done something “by faith” in Hebrews 11.

His saga begins in verse 8: “By f...