Hebrews 11 is the go-to chapter for great examples of faith and endurance. A hall of fame collection of Old Testament heroes drawing a list of accomplishments that lay claim to the acts of faith that distinguished them.
By faith, Abel set the example for acceptable sacrifices.
By faith, Enoch pleased God and skipped death.
By faith, Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood.
By faith, Abraham obeyed God’s call to go where he was instructed.
By faith, Sarah became pregnant in old age and birthed a nation.
By faith, Abraham offered Isaac as an offering when God was testing him
By faith, Isaac promised blessings for the future to Jacob and Esau.
By faith, Jacob blessed his descendants.
By faith, Joseph prophesied the exodus from Egypt.
By faith, Moses’ parents braved the kings decree and hid their son.
By faith, Moses turned from the rage of an earthly king to obey an invisible God and commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and escape the angel of death.
By faith, the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry land and marched around Jericho seven times.
By faith, Rahab welcomed spies and escaped destruction.
By faith, Gideon led Israel to claim victory over the Midianites.
By faith, Barak along with Deborah, brought peace to Israel by destroying the Canaanites.
By faith, Samson fought the Philistines on behalf of the Israelites.
By faith, Jephthah won victory over the Amorites and Ammonites.
By faith, David took down Goliath, loved God, and led Israel through many victorious battles.
By faith, Samuel heard God’s voice and obeyed God’s will.
By faith, all the prophets exhibited great faith in the face of hostility.
“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.”
- Hebrews 11:1-2MSG
While all wildly different and unique in God’s big story, each hero acted by faith with their trust in God. And while we know them as heroes, none of them knew they themselves were heroes. They were just ordinary people - like you and me – who simply believed that God was who He said He was, and with that firm foundation believed that He was worth living for. Their intimacy with their Creator, caused them to take heart and have courage, and to take action on what God had told them to do. In the face of opposition, when others mocked or didn’t understand them, they lived by faith.
These heroes clung to a heavenly perspective and refused to live according to the restraints of this earth. We too should, “set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)
I desire to live in such a way that my life is a reflection of a citizen of heaven more so than a citizen of earth.
He is a firm foundation, when everything around us may seem to be crumbling.
He is worth living for.
By faith.
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