“Now faith is the
assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). Many folks can quote that verse but tend to
stop short when quoting; the following
words add power and credibility, “For by
it the men of old were commended (gained approval)’
Hey Gang, I believe God put that special chapter in the
Bible to show us that all of those mentioned had one thing in common, they were
just like you and me and had their times of discouragement. In it we find a listing of God’s hero’s and
what they did in their lives for God through faith. It opens up with these words, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see”. This is
what the ancients were commended for”.
Is that not a neat promise from God? When we are obedient
and place Him in the driver’s seat of our lives we are ‘commended’. God was commending the people of this
passage. In essence I believe He was
praising them. Wow, is that not a neat
promise to the sheep of His pasture that obedience is rewarded by praise from
the throne room of heaven!
As a child I listened to the Sunday School stories of Moses,
David and all the miracle workers of the Bible, taught by Ada Holliway, my teacher.
I believed those heroes of the Bible were perfect in every way. And after seeing Charlton Hesston’s powerful
role as Moses in the Ten Commandments, there was no question that I could never
live up to his example.
But one day the light came on in my brain and I realized
that Moses had doubts and even argued with God as to his worthiness to be God’s
leg man in leading the children of Israel out of bondage. Did he not lose it and kill an Egyptian and strike
the stone in the wilderness? In other words
was he not just like me or I was just like him?
And then there is the
story of David, a shepherd boy, who stood before the mighty Goliath and shouted
“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine,
that he should taunt the armies of the living God” (I Sam 17:26). The same David that stole another man’s wife
and then tried to cover his sin by killing her husband. The same David who was “a man after God’s own
heart”.
Abraham and Sarah had doubts when God told them they would
have a bambino in their quiver, even in their very old age. Sarah’s response…she laughed. Do you think they had doubts? Isaac
lied. He also said that his wife was his
sister. He did that because he was in a
foreign country and he did not want the king to kill him and take his
wife.
Sampson had a problem with immorality. Jephthah said things
before he thought them out which resulted in the loose of his daughter. Samuel and Eli had big time problems with
their kids.
The point! Each had doubts and sins and struggles and
problems, just like that person who stares at you each morning from the
bathroom mirror. I just want to suggest
to you that these were normal every- day variety of people just like us.
Notice verse
32 “What more shall I say, I do not have
time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and the
prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained
what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the
flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to
strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Heb.
11:32-34).
Then verse
thirty-eight goes on to say, “The world was
not worthy of them. They wandered in
deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground”. Although they were commended for their faith
none of them received what had been promised.”
(vs.38-39).
Soooo, God begins this passage by telling us they were
commended and ends it in like manner. They were just like you and me but they
were commended by God. But hang in the
for one more session on An Encouraging
Word For The Moment, for I believe God wants you to know the rest of the story.
Blessings,
Gramps
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