I shared yesterday’s thought that began in the Faith Chapter that we know just about as much of as we do the Love Chapter. Hebrews 11 is Faith. 1 Corinthians 13 is the Love chapter, although it includes Faith and Hope. All three are essential, but Faith is the focus in Hebrews, and Love is the focus in Corinthians.
If we could but remember that the original language text does not have chapters or verses, nor does it have all the grammar things we take for granted in today’s world. Punctuation, Capitalization, nor sentence structure that matches our English translations. With each translation, the English (and other languages) words and phrasing will change. New words exist today that did not exist back then – whether in the old King James or the original languages of Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, or even Latin. So, in some ways, we are learning the theme of the writing with more current language norms.
With that as a prelude, look at Hebrews 11:1-2.
Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
For by it [Faith] the elders obtained a good report.
(Hebrews 11:1-2 KJV)
The challenge is set. The gauntlet is before us. How do we become an elder with a good report? That’s what we all want. Our elders have shown the way, and their witness/testimony/good report shows us how we can improve our lives today.
Go ahead and read the entire chapter in whatever translation you enjoy. These same two verses in The Message translation reads like this:
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God,
this Faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.
It’s our handle on what we can’t see.
The act of Faith is what distinguished our ancestors [elders],
set them above the crowd [good report].
(Hebrews 11:1-2 MSG)
In this translation, what set them above the crowd is what the KJV identified as a good report, but it came from their “act of faith.” Faith produces a Good Report!
Groundwork Set
As you read and study the chapter, you realize that a Good Report comes from your Faith. That’s the belief system you hold on to and use to respond to every challenge. At one point, Jesus told his followers they had “little faith.” (Luke 12:28, Matthew 8:26) When a Centurion (probably a Roman) told Jesus to “say the word,” Jesus said he had “great faith” not found anywhere in Israel. (Matthew 8:10)
All of this tells me my Faith is crucial to my Good Report. This is a personal testimony (good report) of my walk through life and how I stood up to all the challenges, even if they demanded my life. John the Revelator records what the Spirit says to the Church of Smyrna that they must be “faithful unto death.” (Revelations 2:10) But wait! Our collective Faith is crucial to our joint Good Report!
When you surround yourselves with the framework of Faith, and then you act your belief system, I cannot help but believe you are on your way to having a “good report.”
Hebrews 11 becomes the classroom showing how others lived their lives and obtained their good report. You learn that even in harrowing challenges, as with others, you can equally get your good report even if you do not survive.
All I’m saying, being faithful through and unto our last breath is the witness of our life.
Life Lived
When you reach the ending, everything you’ve done, including mistakes, losses, and victories, will be your Memorial Stone of how you lived your life. You won’t be there to sugar-coat and paint a glossy view of your life. It will be what it is! An old saying comes to mind, “You can put lipstick on a pig, and it will still be a pig.”
However, you can live a rotten life of wrongness, and in the end, a change of heart can modify our lives. The years of wrong can be righted in days of good. How? The same way you made your choice early on to live a Godly life, even at the ending. You can make your life right with Christ if you have the time.
In my studies of the Apostle Paul, I believe he was yearning to make right his earlier years of wrong. In his previous life, we knew him as Saul.
All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem.
(Acts 9:1-2 MSG)
It was on this trip that he met Christ. Blinded and led to the city, the disciple Ananias was commissioned to tell him what the Lord had in store for him. The conversion is complete, except Saul has to unlearn his prior life and retrain himself to understand his training for the future mission. This took several years, but finally, he’s prepared.
Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him.
They didn’t trust him one bit.
(Acts 9:26 MSG)
It took a while before the trust was gained! You can get frustrated that some challenges are solved after years of effort, but you should not lose your Faith in the time it takes. It’s timing that God knows something about! Equally, it’s part of your “good report” statement that will tell how you persevere in the face of obstacles.
It’s All About Faith
In the Old Testament, we walk through thousands of years of history with only a handful of expressions of Faith. In fact, in the KJV, the English word “faith” is only found twice, but the original Hebrew word is found an additional 47 times and is translated in various faith+ terms like faithfulness and faithfully. But it also comes across as other English words we know and depend on. Steady. Truth (Truly). Set Office (as in following an ordered set of rules to function in a position.)
When you get the picture of the word, the theme of the idea becomes identifiable no matter which language you use it.
Close out the Faith Chapter anyway you want; you still must look at the next chapter to read the Memorial Stone of their life.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:1-2 KJV)
You have witnesses to follow. Examples throughout history that show the way. And you are a witness to others. All you need to do is run the race with patience and look to Jesus, who started and ends our walk of Faith. He’s our most excellent example.