Believe enough to die
Hebrews 11 is traditionally known as the faith chapter. “The faith chapter” has an optimistic, la-la-la ring to it. In all objectivity, it’s more like the “ready to die” chapter. It’s a list of a handful of people who lived exemplary lives—they obeyed God blindly, they gave unselfishly, they lived righteously and they believed till and beyond the point of death.
Is living Hebrew 11:1 really possible? The people mentioned in the chapter were real people just like us. In fact they were flawed—imperfect—just like us. Dissect each of their lives and you’ll find a a patch of rottenness somewhere in their goodness. So what makes them worthy of a Hebrew 11 mention? They lived their human lives within the will of God: They went where He sent them and did what He asked them to. But in the few rotten, human moments when they did what they wanted, they felt so sorry, so awful. And like a repentant child, each of them turned around to be wrapped in the infinite love and mercy of God.
It’s that single act of turning around that speaks of your faith. It’s the act of staying in God’s arms of love and mercy that strengthens you to be part of the faithful—a people who believe enough to die.
It was that kind of a belief that Jesus had in the plan of salvation. He believed enough to die.
Is living Hebrew 11:1 really possible? The people mentioned in the chapter were real people just like us. In fact they were flawed—imperfect—just like us. Dissect each of their lives and you’ll find a a patch of rottenness somewhere in their goodness. So what makes them worthy of a Hebrew 11 mention? They lived their human lives within the will of God: They went where He sent them and did what He asked them to. But in the few rotten, human moments when they did what they wanted, they felt so sorry, so awful. And like a repentant child, each of them turned around to be wrapped in the infinite love and mercy of God.
It’s that single act of turning around that speaks of your faith. It’s the act of staying in God’s arms of love and mercy that strengthens you to be part of the faithful—a people who believe enough to die.
It was that kind of a belief that Jesus had in the plan of salvation. He believed enough to die.
