HeBrews: A Better Blend
My husband and I are similar in many ways. Over the years of being married we have learned a lot about one another; things like the fact that neither of us likes liver. To be honest with you, he would have been up the creek without a paddle if he had liked liver because I am not sure I could have brought myself to cook the stuff. It is just vile, as far as I am concerned.
We both enjoy camping. We like good food. We both love Jesus. We are mountain people rather than beach bums. Both of us can get ridiculouly excited about the Strawberry Shortcake from The Cheesecake Factory. We are unanimous on the fact that there are few things that bless the soul more than a plate of my special collard greens, soup beans and cornbread.
There are some differences between us, however. He likes Miracle Whip. I’m a mayo girl. He’s a hunter. I’m an indoor woman. He enjoys a good western. They bore me to tears. He understands football. I often struggle to find the ball on the field.
One major difference between us is how we react to a story. Greg wants the unabridged Version of most everything. He is a thinker and a ponderer. I am the CliffsNotes type. When I tell him about something that happened, I give the basic information…if he is lucky. Who, what, when, where, how, why. He will then ask me, ‘Well, what about this? Or what about that?’ To which I usually respond, “I don’t know. I’m telling you everything I know.” He just wants more details than I either have, or am willing to take the time to remember. I just want the facts. He wants the facts plus the backstory.
Are either of us wrong? No, we are just different.
As we come to Hebrews 11, I am super excited because it is a classic ‘just the facts’ chapter. It gives the most pertinent information about some of the giants of faith in the Bible. If one desires more details you can delve into them, but you don’t have to in order to get the substance of the story.
I would love to encourage you to take the time to read the entire 11th chapter of Hebrews. Go here to do that.
In a word (or three) what would you say is the overarching theme of Hebrews 11? If you said ‘living by faith’ you are right. This chapter has been given several names such as God’s Hall of Fame of Faith, The Saints Hall of Fame, The Honor Roll of Old Testament Saints and others. This is the place where God grew nostalgic and began to think back over the years and say, “By faith, look what so-and-so did. How I esteem them!” It is almost like taking a walk through a museum of beautifully painted portraits of the life of the spiritual giants of the Old Testament.
Imagine it. Standing in front of the oil painting of the life and faith walk of Abraham and oohing and ahhing over his faithfulness….in spite of his mistakes. Remember, sometimes the errors in a masterpiece increase the value. So, it is with God’s faithful ones.
Next time we will sit a spell and visit with Abraham. Until then…walk by faith.
MEDITATION MOMENT: What is your favorite Hebrews 11 story?
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If you are new here and don’t know about the series I will be starting in January entitled What I Needed to Say….., I invite you to click here and read more about it. I would love for you to be part of this series by writing your own ANONYMOUS LETTER.
