Skip to main content

Victory?


          "Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." (Hebrews 11:35-38)
            Everyone love a story where the hero emerges from the smoke, battered, dirty but victorious. That's what we think of when we think of victory. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is called "The Hall of Faith" and gives us snippets from story after story of heroes from the Old Testament. Each one lived by faith. We read about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab, then the author decides there's not time or space enough, so he simply lists a few names, then moves on to some that are unnamed. Every one of them, heroes of the faith.
         Then he gets to today's passage. If you're not familiar with it, you might think, "Now, wait a minute," because the story changes. These people don't sound like victors in our books. They're the losers. He finishes by saying that "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." They didn't win, yet they were commended? Yes.
           Just who were these ones who didn't receive what they were looking for? The writer says "these" and generally, we  assume that  means the people who were described immediately before. So "these" certainly refers to all of the others who were tortured, flogged, etc. But it doesn't just say "these," it also says "all," meaning everyone listed from Abel to the ones who were in caves and holes in the ground.
          As the old song says, "Faith is the victory." It doesn't matter whether you defeat someone else or they defeat you, so long as you are faithful. So long as you have faith, God does not see you as a loser, He adds you to His Hall of Faith.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On the Calendar
Yom Ha'atzmaut
National Hospital Day
Birthday of
Florence Nightengale
Gabriel Dante Rosetti



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more