In Hebrews chapter 11, Paul lists many examples of people in Bible history, such as Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Rahab, and others who acted “by faith” in God’s promises to do difficult, embarrassing, frightening, life threatening, and even life ending assignments they knew God was calling them to pursue.

The next few days’ messages will be related to the subsequent verse in Hebrews 12:1 where Paul writes, “Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down especially the sin that so easily trips us up, and run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

One of the great things about sports teams and clubs with common interests is that the members become examples for each other to excel and overcome obstacles. I think what Paul is telling us with the description of “a crowd of witnesses” is that we have “a team” for us to use as examples to help us excel in our faith. We should read about and meditate on the stories of these people to see how they acted in faith, and God kept his promises to support them in their callings.

Dear Lord, thank you for these examples of faithful witnesses on who’s stories we can rely for confidence in you. Help us use this confidence to faithfully pursue those things to which you are calling us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.