It has been a difficult year in many ways.
We’ve seen unbridled anger in the streets such as we never thought possible. There has been bitter and hateful speech. Unexpected death has come to many households.
The government has printed money like it was going out of style. Many have survived financially because of it. I was a little embarrassed to receive money that I had not earned.
Adversity comes to all of us. Life is a marathon; an endurance race, if you will. The writer of Hebrews, in Chapter 11 gives us a list of great men and women of the Old Testament, who endured great hardship and remained faithful to the end. Then in Chapter 12, he instructs us to see this great cloud of witnesses as surrounding us to cheer us on.
David Jeremiah has some great thoughts on this passage that might prove helpful.
First he says, we need to surround ourselves with great champions. There are champions around us today. Men and women of great faith and perseverance, who can inspire us as we fight our daily battles.
Certainly, there are great persons of faith in history who have suffered greatly and endured with strength. Many embraced their hardships with the assurance God would see them through. Some great people of faith that have challenged and inspired me are Corrie Ten Boom, Joni Eareckson, and Billy Graham. Earlier giants might be Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Amy Carmichael, or John Wesley. If we fail to learn from their great examples of faith is to rob ourselves of great treasures of hope and inspiration that we could pass on to others.
The writer also to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so often trips us up. We often have a lot of extras that hold us back. They may not be sinful in themselves but occupy so much of our time and thoughts that they take the place of what would make us more effective.
Then there might be those hidden sins, known only to you and to God that keep us from developing an effective lifestyle. We may call them soft sins; sins that to the secular world appear to be harmless. These might be pride, the desire for approval of man, comfort and convenience.
There are many who start off well but somewhere along the way they give up, they fail to persevere. All of us have periods in our life when we don’t where to turn. Often, we lose our focus. The world and our doubts fight against our faith. But the answer is verse 2. “Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
My wife and I are both in quarantine, having tested positive for COVID-19. So, we are trying to take the advice I share today. “It will come to pass.”
To comment, email jhm82@outlook or call (580) 772-2311.