HEBREWS 11

 TEXT TO REFLECT ON

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

HEBREWS 11:13-16

REFLECT

There is a certain madness in those who live and are led by faith. They are people who have seen or heard, or are convicted of the certainty of things that neither they nor those around them can see. “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen and greeted them from afar….” v13. People of faith live their lives, drawn by visions and convictions that they hold dear to, despite suffering deprivations and the derision of others. All they have and are able to hold on to, is a promise of something greater that what they are willing to sacrifice. And those looking in from the outside, wonder if the people of faith have lost their minds. They could have chosen the comfort and security of the life they had left behind. But drawn by the promise of a life far beyond what they have had, they press on to receive what they had been promised. Often, there is no evidence that they ever received their reward. Because their reward is given outside of this life where we can see. It is difficult to live with a person of faith; it is far more difficult to live as a person of faith. 

“Why can’t you be like everyone else?” “Why can’t you have a normal life, have a normal family, have a normal job and earn a normal salary? In short, why can’t you be a normal person?” These perplexing questions nag at those who live by faith. Abraham left his normal settled life in search of a place nobody had an idea about. Abel gave God the first born of his life-stock, valuable and hard-earned gifts that he was not required to do. It is one thing to give a gift out of plenty. It is a far greater sacrifice to give of the firstborn of one’s life-stock. Yet by faith, Abel gave, trusting that he would still have enough for his future. The list goes on: people giving up what was precious to them, in the conviction that God would not fail them or shortchange them, but would instead give them better things. But these ‘better’ things would often not be seen or received in this life. Abraham in his lifetime never saw the ‘destination’ to which God had drawn him out of the comfort of his ‘normal’ home town. Abel was killed by his brother Cain before he could receive the ‘payout’ that his sacrifice deserved. Moses died before reaching the Promised Land. Each of these heroes of the faith persevered to the end without seeing or receiving their promised reward in their lifetime. Their hope lay in a reward which they would only receive in heaven. That is the challenge and great difficulty of living the life of faith: we may not see nor receive one bit of the reward in this life. To many observers on the outside, the sacrifices made by people of faith may have been just exercises in futility.

This is why the motivation for embarking on such a journey of faith is so important. It has to be that one seeks to please God. “Now before [Enoch] was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” v 5, 6. Anyone who desires to draw near to God would invariably live a life of faith, believing that God rewards those who trust Him.

RELATE

It is a dangerous thing to want to draw close to God. On the one hand, it is a great privilege to be close to one’s God. The benefits in this life are plentiful: peace, joy, comfort, hope, security. One of the best benefits is that God shares His heart with those who draw close to Him. But this is where the danger is as well. Because as God bares His heart to us, we will discover that this world and its values and treasures and pleasures are often the things that hurt God most. And the closer we draw to God, the more we eschew the things of the world. And we are drawn to visions and promises that call for the giving up of the values and pleasures of this world. And we become conflicted because on the one hand, we are pulled by the pleasures of this world; on the other, we are drawn by promises of greater things that God promises us in the life to come. Our Lord Jesus Christ recognised this when He said, “If any one would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”. This is indeed a hard choice to make. To choose between living for rewards that we can see, or living for promises that we cannot. And we cannot afford to sit on the fence. We must make a choice of one or the other.

REST

 Seems I've imagined Him all of my life

As the wisest of all of mankind

But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to men

He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad

And the priests said a demon's to blame

But God in the form of this angry young man

Could not have seemed perfectly sane

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

And so we follow God's own fool

For only the foolish can tell-

Believe the unbelievable

And come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son

For a madman who died for a dream

And you'll have the faith His first followers had

And you'll feel the weight of the beam

So surrender the hunger to say you must know

Have the courage to say I believe

For the power of paradox opens your eyes

And blinds those who say they can see

 So we follow God's own Fool

For only the foolish can tell

Believe the unbelievable,

And come be a fool as well

God’s Own Fool by Michael Card 1981