Hebrews 11

I'm still slowly working my way through Beth Moore's "Believing God" and I'm still loving it. Lately, we've been studying Hebrews 11, the "Faith Chapter" of the Bible. Beth is like the tour guide walking us down this long hallway and stopping at every portrait to explain exactly why these people have the honor of being mentioned in this famous chapter.

I remember being little and thinking these "heroes" of the Bible were so cool. My silly little mind pictured them walking through life as depicted in a stained glass window, so perfect and bright and always did the right thing. But upon further study, I discovered that this was definitely not the case.

Enoch, who was taken straight into the presence of God and spared from death, spent the first sixty-five years of his life apart from God. (Genesis 5:21-22) Abraham, who became the father of the Jewish nation, was a foolish liar. (Genesis 20:2) Moses, who lead the Jews out of captivity in Egypt, was a murderer. (Exodus 2:12) And Rahab, who saved her family from the destruction of Jericho, was a prostitute! (Joshua 2:1)

Their failures are part of the point of this chapter of faith. They weren't remembered because of their actions, because if they were, their bad actions would outweigh their good ones! But they are remembered for their faith in God. They believed that God is who He says He is and that He would do what He promised He would do. And because of that unwavering faith, God blessed them abundantly and used them for His greater purposes.

I dunno about you, but I am not perfect. I have committed more than my fair share of sins. But I find comfort in the fact that I am not alone. Not that I'm glad these Bible heroes messed up, but I'm glad to see that God does indeed use people despite their mistakes in life. He will reward continual faith in Him, and I don't want to miss out on that.