Hebrews 11:1 – 2 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. For by it the people of old received God’s commendation.
The writer gives examples of faithfulness. Then he carries on his point in Chapter 12
Hebrews 12:1 - 13 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?
“My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he correct you.
“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” (quoting Proverbs 3:11-12)
Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.
There are so many points to talk about in these scriptures, but I want to focus on LIVING in (and by) FAITH. Note in Ch11, verse 1, the writer sets the stage with a basic definition of faith and follow it with historical examples. What he also implies is that faith must be followed by a-c-t-i-o-n. It is not enough to believe that something is true, we have to act on it. If I believe I can run a marathon, but I never even enter the race, what good is it. When I was a teenager (ancient history lesson here – haha), I used to tell people that I could be a great country singer, but I never tried (to the glee of many folks around me). Therefore you will not see my name in lights or buy my CDs at Walmart or download them from the internet. That is kinda what the writer is saying here.
Training camps are firing up across the NFL in preparation for another exciting Football Season. Hopeful players/millionaires are straining their bodies and spirits to make the team and allow themselves to perform at their optimum level. To reach that level they must endure the pain and discipline of training and conditioning. Their goal is the FAITH that if they follow the direction of their coaches, they will win the prize. It is the same thing in the spiritual world. We must train and condition ourselves for spiritual warfare and discipleship of Jesus, THE Christ with the FAITH in His “program” to win the prize and commendation of the Creator of the Universe, our adopted Father.
Image via WikipediaI am finding this encouraging to me and my situations and hopefully you will get something from it as well. Fight FEAR with FAITH and follow Coach Jesus’ instructions!!!!
A good friend of mine commented on my last blog that “When fear knocks at the door, I send Faith to answer and many times no one was there. Hmmmm makes sense to this Old Country Boy
May God Bless You and Yours
Gene
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