Wednesday, August 26, 2015
“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.
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 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 loss 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 everyday 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.
Blessings,
Gramps
