Lessons from our heroes
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Heb 12:1
Until an ongoing series of messages on Hebrew 11-12 recently, I always thought that this verse referred to the fact that since we are surrounded by so many people who can see our actions, we should ensure that we testify to them through consistent application of biblical principles in our lives.
But upon reading Heb 12:1 in context with Heb 11, I realize that the “cloud of witnesses” that the writer of Hebrews refers to is not people to whom we need to testify, but rather, people who have already testified TO US, and have run the race before us. This is not to say that we should not testify to others through consistent Christian living – there are plenty of other directions in God’s word for us to do this.
Anyway, this brings me to the sharing on what we can learn from those who have run before us. So far, my church series has touched on 3 characters – Noah, Esther and Joseph. What can we learn from them? For the sake of brevity (haha look who’s talking) I have attempted to condense what I have learnt for relevance to our work life. Btw, if you are interested, the full sermons (English, Mandarin and Hokkien) are all available at www.fcbc.org.sg.
What can we learn from Noah (Gen 6-9)? In a nutshell, God told this really old guy: build a boat. A BIG boat. In the middle of the land. It’s gonna rain. It’s never rained before (Gen 1:5-6 and Gen 7:11-12). You may not even know what rain is. But it’s gonna rain. And rain. And rain. Oh, and before that happens, round up two of every animal and pile them into the big boat. Now get to it. And Noah did.
By his obedience, Noah demonstrated that he dared to stand out from the crowd. Remember – everyone else was wicked – but Noah was righteous. And how they must have mocked him for building a boat in the middle of the land. When he told them it would flood, when it had never rained before. When he started collecting his floating zoo.
Noah was consistently inconsistent with the pattern of the world around him. Instead, he trusted God implicitly and obeyed wholeheartedly. And by his faith and action, he saved his family (notice the Bible never says that they were righteous), preserved the human race, and a ton of animals.
Let’s turn now to Esther. This heroine also demonstrated great courage in carrying out faith’s dictates. She knew that going into the king’s presence to attempt to save her people could mean her death and would certainly expose her own background as a member of a condemned race (Esther 4). But after counseling by Mordecai, she realized that she had to do what she had to do, resulting in her famous utterance “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). Esther had come to understand what John would later express – “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4. She was prepared to stand up to an earthly king for the sake of her heavenly king.
Finally, let’s consider Joseph. This is a guy who has really experienced that no matter what happens, God is in control. He was attacked by his brothers, dumped in a well and sold into slavery. Just when he thought he had gotten out of that mess, he was wrongfully accused and imprisoned. With God’s help, he was lifted up again and put in a position to help his brothers and through this, preserve Israel. What was intended for ill, God turned to good (Gen 50:20).
And God continued to prove his everlasting faithfulness to Joseph, long after Joseph had passed away – Joseph wished for his remains to be brought out of Egypt (Gen 50:25). Hundreds of years later, Moses remembered to bring Joseph’s bones with him as the Israelite Exodus began (Exo 13:19). And after years and years of wandering and furious fighting, Joshua remembered to bury Joseph’s bones in Israel (Jos 24:32). God ALWAYS keeps his promises.
So how do we apply these lessons to our worklife?
1. Like Noah - dare to stand out. Be different. Do our friends and colleagues see that we are different? Are we prepared, like Noah, to show them we are different? We should be, because though we are in the world we are not of it (John 17:14-19), and we no longer conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2). Our difference should be visible. It should not only exist in our heads, where it testifies to no one but the deception of our conscience. A very good quote I heard: “it is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than to think yourself into a new way of acting”. So do something!
2. Like Esther - dare to stand up. Be prepared not only to be different, but to be able to defend that difference against opposition, scorn and persecution. We honour and respect those who are put in authority (1 Peter 2:13-16), but are we prepared, like Esther, to stand up to kings at our own risk, and to defend our values and our faith? If we are ashamed of Christ before others, He will be ashamed of us (Mark 8:38). Instead we trust that if we do His business, He will take care of ours. Do not worry! For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt 5:25-36).
3. Like Joseph - dare to trust God. How is it possible to stand out and stand up without being stomped into the ground? Is it horribly, grindingly, insufferably tough to be an outstanding, upstanding Christian in the workplace? Of course. Is it the best, most satisfying, most joyous possible thing that we can do with our employment? OF COURSE. God has always been faithful. He will continue to be. He has already given us His very life. Why would we doubt Him now? But when things seem to go wrong and don’t follow our plan, are we prepared, like Joseph, to trust that what was intended for ill, God will turn to good?
A very wise man once said:
“God is too good to be unkind.
God is too wise to be confused.
When I cannot trace His hand
I can always trust His heart.”
An even wiser man (Solomon) said:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding
In all your ways acknowledge Him
And He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
Friends, just as we are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses who have run the race before us, we are also surrounded by brothers and sisters who run the race with us now. Have YOU encouragement for your fellow runners? Or perhaps you need encouragement to start running, maintain or pick up the pace. Let’s see how we can spur one another on.
Until an ongoing series of messages on Hebrew 11-12 recently, I always thought that this verse referred to the fact that since we are surrounded by so many people who can see our actions, we should ensure that we testify to them through consistent application of biblical principles in our lives.
But upon reading Heb 12:1 in context with Heb 11, I realize that the “cloud of witnesses” that the writer of Hebrews refers to is not people to whom we need to testify, but rather, people who have already testified TO US, and have run the race before us. This is not to say that we should not testify to others through consistent Christian living – there are plenty of other directions in God’s word for us to do this.
Anyway, this brings me to the sharing on what we can learn from those who have run before us. So far, my church series has touched on 3 characters – Noah, Esther and Joseph. What can we learn from them? For the sake of brevity (haha look who’s talking) I have attempted to condense what I have learnt for relevance to our work life. Btw, if you are interested, the full sermons (English, Mandarin and Hokkien) are all available at www.fcbc.org.sg.
What can we learn from Noah (Gen 6-9)? In a nutshell, God told this really old guy: build a boat. A BIG boat. In the middle of the land. It’s gonna rain. It’s never rained before (Gen 1:5-6 and Gen 7:11-12). You may not even know what rain is. But it’s gonna rain. And rain. And rain. Oh, and before that happens, round up two of every animal and pile them into the big boat. Now get to it. And Noah did.
By his obedience, Noah demonstrated that he dared to stand out from the crowd. Remember – everyone else was wicked – but Noah was righteous. And how they must have mocked him for building a boat in the middle of the land. When he told them it would flood, when it had never rained before. When he started collecting his floating zoo.
Noah was consistently inconsistent with the pattern of the world around him. Instead, he trusted God implicitly and obeyed wholeheartedly. And by his faith and action, he saved his family (notice the Bible never says that they were righteous), preserved the human race, and a ton of animals.
Let’s turn now to Esther. This heroine also demonstrated great courage in carrying out faith’s dictates. She knew that going into the king’s presence to attempt to save her people could mean her death and would certainly expose her own background as a member of a condemned race (Esther 4). But after counseling by Mordecai, she realized that she had to do what she had to do, resulting in her famous utterance “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). Esther had come to understand what John would later express – “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4. She was prepared to stand up to an earthly king for the sake of her heavenly king.
Finally, let’s consider Joseph. This is a guy who has really experienced that no matter what happens, God is in control. He was attacked by his brothers, dumped in a well and sold into slavery. Just when he thought he had gotten out of that mess, he was wrongfully accused and imprisoned. With God’s help, he was lifted up again and put in a position to help his brothers and through this, preserve Israel. What was intended for ill, God turned to good (Gen 50:20).
And God continued to prove his everlasting faithfulness to Joseph, long after Joseph had passed away – Joseph wished for his remains to be brought out of Egypt (Gen 50:25). Hundreds of years later, Moses remembered to bring Joseph’s bones with him as the Israelite Exodus began (Exo 13:19). And after years and years of wandering and furious fighting, Joshua remembered to bury Joseph’s bones in Israel (Jos 24:32). God ALWAYS keeps his promises.
So how do we apply these lessons to our worklife?
1. Like Noah - dare to stand out. Be different. Do our friends and colleagues see that we are different? Are we prepared, like Noah, to show them we are different? We should be, because though we are in the world we are not of it (John 17:14-19), and we no longer conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2). Our difference should be visible. It should not only exist in our heads, where it testifies to no one but the deception of our conscience. A very good quote I heard: “it is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than to think yourself into a new way of acting”. So do something!
2. Like Esther - dare to stand up. Be prepared not only to be different, but to be able to defend that difference against opposition, scorn and persecution. We honour and respect those who are put in authority (1 Peter 2:13-16), but are we prepared, like Esther, to stand up to kings at our own risk, and to defend our values and our faith? If we are ashamed of Christ before others, He will be ashamed of us (Mark 8:38). Instead we trust that if we do His business, He will take care of ours. Do not worry! For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt 5:25-36).
3. Like Joseph - dare to trust God. How is it possible to stand out and stand up without being stomped into the ground? Is it horribly, grindingly, insufferably tough to be an outstanding, upstanding Christian in the workplace? Of course. Is it the best, most satisfying, most joyous possible thing that we can do with our employment? OF COURSE. God has always been faithful. He will continue to be. He has already given us His very life. Why would we doubt Him now? But when things seem to go wrong and don’t follow our plan, are we prepared, like Joseph, to trust that what was intended for ill, God will turn to good?
A very wise man once said:
“God is too good to be unkind.
God is too wise to be confused.
When I cannot trace His hand
I can always trust His heart.”
An even wiser man (Solomon) said:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding
In all your ways acknowledge Him
And He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
Friends, just as we are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses who have run the race before us, we are also surrounded by brothers and sisters who run the race with us now. Have YOU encouragement for your fellow runners? Or perhaps you need encouragement to start running, maintain or pick up the pace. Let’s see how we can spur one another on.
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