Devotion: Memory

Hebrews 12:1-2a

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.

I love the image of The Great Cloud of Witnesses, the celestial gathering of the faithful who have gone before us. All the heroes of the Bible are there – Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Noah and Moses, Esther and Naomi, the Disciples, the Apostles and so very many more. And my personal heroes – Mom and Dad, aunts and uncles, teachers and pastors, friends whose lives ended much too soon.

I love them all. I am grateful for their lives and example. And no offense to the patriarchs and the prophets, but it’s the people I knew personally who influence me the most. Because I know a lot about them as sinners as well as saints. They missed the mark. They did stupid things sometimes. They needed forgiveness fairly often, and they knew it. I am a lot like them, and I can more readily learn from them.

This passage from Hebrews tells us that because we have this, if you will, resource – we should use it to fight against sin. “You know these people, you know how they lived, you know what and how they overcame by the Grace of God. They sinned and repented and were made right with God. Learn from them and go and do likewise,” Hebrews instructs us. These witnesses are a gift to us and it is remembering them that unlocks their wisdom for us.

As we recall their lives, we also see how Jesus walked with them through their hard times– and we’re reminded He does the same for us. We can trust in Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit because we know this is what God does for those who love him.

Generous God, thanks for our memories of the faithful who have gone before us. Help us to love you as they did. Amen.

Written by Cheryl Stubbendieck