‘Thoughts'

Our Turn!

In certain events that transpired last week, we learned that certain men (John Madden, Troy Aikmen, to name some) were inducted into Footballs Hall of Fame. This always causes me to think of Hebrews the eleventh chapter . It is a chapter that some call the “ Faith Hall of Fame ”.

This chapter records such notables as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and Moses to name a few. However, note the summary at the end of the chapter:

Hebrews 11:39-40 “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us , that they should not be made perfect apart from us .”

In the next chapter the Hebrew writer because of this summary explains that now it is our turn to run the race of faith, note:

Hebrews 12:1-2 “ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses , let us lay aside every weight , and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus , the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

In this analogy we are given four points of interest:

 I. Surrounded by Witnesses.

The “all these' that are mentioned in 11:39 , are the witnesses spoken of here. In this we learn that not only are there those who are cheering for us to achieve the goal, but they are made up of those whose very lives embody what we need for success.

 II. Discard the Weight.

We cannot possibly hope to achieve success by lugging around excess weight. Just as runners train and lose the excess weight that will slow them down or cause them to fail, we must drop the sin that so easily snares us.

 III. Run With Endurance.

This race is not a sprint, but an endurance race. It requires that we persevere with determination, all the while moving steadily on with an un-yielding attitude.

 IV. With An Eye on the Goal.

This is accomplished by looking to Jesus who has shown us the way, discarded the weight, and lasted to the very end for us.

 

It is our turn!

Will we be inducted?