Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Handing off the Baton

“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what
had been promised, since God had planned something better for us
so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:39-40
 
 
How did the ‘handoff’ go?
Did you receive the baton?
Imagine running in a relay race with the baton handed off to you from Noah, Moses, David, Samuel, Gideon or some other Old Testament saint.
You see the Old Testament saints have run their race and the baton has been passed to us.
We are the church and we are not running this race alone.
It is as if there are bleachers full of those who have gone before cheering us on in our efforts.
You must continue on in this race!
Hold firmly to the baton!
Be sure of your footing!
Can you see the finish line?
No, we are not alone in this race.
Never have been and never will be.
Certainly Jesus said He would never leave us and never forsake us and that promise is kept through the Holy Spirit in us, but there is also that “…great cloud of witnesses…”
They have run their leg faithfully and finished well and have passed the baton on to you.
They do not leave the stadium uninterested in the completion of the race but now sit in the stands watching, cheering and encouraging you and me in our leg.
Can you hear David yelling: “Don’t be afraid of the giant!”?
I can just hear Jeremiah and Timothy encouraging the younger ones in the race.
Let me close with the first verse of Hebrews 12 –
“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,”
Do you have the baton firmly in hand?
Can you hear the cheering?  

No comments: