Heroes

Today: Hebrews 11-13

I've only seen a few episodes of the TV show "Heroes," but I know that each of the lead characters in the show has some sort of supernatural power. That's cool, I guess...but I think the most incredible heroes are sometimes just real people...people who may seem otherwise ordinary, but who have lived extraordinary lives.

Today's passage talks about some of the heroes of the Bible--ordinary people who may have seemed a little...well, crazy...at moments. Like Noah, a guy who built a Titanic without any water around at all. Or Sarah--a woman WAY past normal child-bearing years--who became the mother of a nation. These people were heroes, not necessarily because of who they were or what they accomplished, but because of what they believed.

I love this verse at the start of the passage:

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.

I don't know about you, but I for one, have sometimes struggled with having faith and trusting God. In America today, being "self-made" is in--it's part of being "independent," "realistic" or "in control." We work and we try and we do and we push...toward whatever we think possible. The problem? We sometimes forget to ask for God's help. We forget to exercise even a little bit of faith.

But in my life (and yours, too), faith is required. Sometimes I'm reminded just how much I don't know...and how much I don't control. I may not think I need God to provide direction for my life...but I definitely want Him to! Anything I face is much better when He's involved.

Just because heroes of the past paved the way for us to learn about God and faith does not mean we don't need to live in faith ourselves. On the contrary--how much more faith should we have knowing what God did before us?

Here's what Paul said in today's passage:

Do you see what this means—

all these pioneers who blazed the way,

all these veterans cheering us on?

It means we'd better get on with it.

Strip down, start running—and never quit!

No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

Keep your eyes on Jesus,

who both began and finished this race we're in.

Study how he did it.

Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—

that exhilarating finish in and with God—

he could put up with anything along the way:

Cross, shame, whatever.

And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

When you find yourselves flagging in your faith,

go over that story again, item by item,

that long litany of hostility he plowed through.

That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!