Monday 2 Jul 2018

July 2: Hebrews 11:32-40

Key Verse: Hebrew 11:39
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised

Devotion:
After specific people have been mentioned to show their individual faith, this chapter is ended with a testimony of some of the other believers who have gone before us in the times before Christ came to earth as a man. None of the people mentioned in this chapter saw Christ come as our Saviour, none could read of the coming in a book like we can, none had so much proof as we now have; and yet all showed faith by continuing to believe in God and the coming Messiah through all the trials they had to face. What an example we have to follow and to be encouraged by!

The promise that they would have a Saviour who would come to save them was just that, a promise. Just like we have our promise Christ is going to return one day to take us home. They had the knowledge God existed in three parts just like we do. They had past experiences of their own which they could look back on though none could claim to have lived a pure life; yet all have been received into Christ’s kingdom because He is the one who paid for their sin debt just as He has paid for ours. They had to face trials which would strengthen each of them so they could be those examples which we look up to and follow. God continues to use men and women throughout history in all walks of life to ensure He does get the glory as He rightly deserves.

We have our promises to look forward to from Christ; not just that He will return for us one day but He will save us from our deserved death if we trust in Him. We may well not see His actual return because we cannot work out when He will return (for no man knows that time). We may not have a life which is blessed with all manner of earthly comforts because that may make us weak and our faith may fail because of doubts. We may not live to be old and wrinkly because we do not know the time God has appointed for us to die. But we can be sure that God is real, and His promises stand no matter what we believe… We need to be on His side so that He can take us home where we belong.

Points to Ponder:
Are you still waiting for someone to do something they said they would do?

Trust in God and He will make you whole…