The people of faith who are written about in the Bible truly did some wonderful and amazing things. They did all of those things by faith - trusting in God. One thing stands out, as Kap and I discuss these people of faith this week. None of them were super people ("super saints") in and of themselves. Some of them may have done extraordinary things, but all of them were ordinary, average, normal people who simply believed God - took Him at His word - and simply acted and responded according to their trust in Him.
If we look into the lives of people such as Abraham, Noah, Moses and the others who are mentioned in the "Faith Hall of Fame" (Hebrews 11), we find that all of them were nothing special when compared with other human beings. They had their own issues in life. They sinned. They had times of doubt. They didn't have their acts together all the time! But God used them, and they were credited with having great faith - all because they simply trusted God.
And not only that, but as we begin to wrap up our current look into the book of Hebrews, we find that their great faith and the things that they did weren't even really the main point that the writer was making. He says a lot of things to say: "Let us look unto JESUS, the author and finisher (perfecter) of our faith."
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Don't you love it Joel? Your post here made me think of one of my favorite quotes that to me describes what I see as I read scripture as an unfoldng story of God engaging with ordinary people and some of those ordinary people as you said taking him at his word and learning to trust. It really is all about what he is doing in us and sometimes through us.
ReplyDelete"The biblical God lets us make our own history, and goes with us on the more or less unheard-of adventures we concoct." --Jacques Ellul
Kent, I like that quote from Ellul. Our "more or less unheard-of adventures" (I like that) are really a matter of the every day life of ordinary people in which, through all of it, God is with us and in us, and we in Him. Through it all we hopefully learn to trust more and more in Him and His unconditional love and grace, and in His passion for us.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Joel!
ReplyDeleteJoel,
ReplyDeleteLoved the post.
There are so many needy believers who are struggling to be extraordinary, because the leaders of their institutional affiliation teaches them that to be a "good Christian", they must be so.
Apart from the miracles associated with His life, nobody would have seen Jesus as extraordinary: No where to call home, no job, no snappy wardrobe, no scented soap and deodorant, and the institutional religious leaders of the world He entered into feared, and loathed Him. The fashionable footware He wore allowed His feet to be absolutely coated in the dirt and dust of the roads and paths on which He walked.
He showed us that there was one thing we need, the completed gift of Himself and the great grace that He offers freely, through His finished work, to His own.
Bino... thanks!
ReplyDeleteAussiejohn,
Yes indeed! I've been in that bondage myself and I've seen way too much of it in the church. People are trying so hard, striving to be "excellent" and to become "better Christians." There's a lot of pressure to perform.
And so I just think that we need to encourage one another in the daily wonders of life in Christ, that may or may not seem big or extraordinary, realizing that it's really all about His finished work, and the treasure of His life that shows itself so much better through ordinary, weak jars of clay.