Week 3
Faith
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
-Hebrews 11:13-16
I don’t say this in many social situations, but I love a good funeral.
I love hearing the stories of someone’s life, the footprint that they left on this world, the people they loved, the stories that seem to never be told until after. A good funeral motivates me to live differently … with the end in mind.
In Hebrews there is a hint at the end goal of these heros of the faith.
all these people were still living by faith when they died
The faith they held onto during their lives was in their grasp until their dying breath. But, it is not necessarily because they got to see the fruit of their faith during their lives. They held onto their faith because …
they had faith,
not in the fruit of their lives,
but in God who they trusted
had their lives in the palms of his hands.
CS Lewis spoke of such faith :
“If we find ourselves
with a desire
that nothing in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation
is that we were made for another world.”
These heros of faith knew that this earthly walk was temporary, that the greatest life experience was to happen after death (something that is etherial to me). They knew that while here, on this side of heaven, their life was about the One who gave it, so they trusted Him with their todays, their tomorrows.
Years ago, I was feeling quite hopeless about a situation in my life. A wise woman gifted me the following phrase (and I hold tightly to it even now) :
This (today) is not the end … while there is time, there is hope.
And, if I were to add to her words, I would say,
And there is time, even after I take my last breath.
Thank you, God, for the reminder that today is not the end, that your promises go on beyond my life and that the best is truly yet to come.
Amen.
itsawonderfilledlife 