The Doctor Is In

hebrews 11-the faith hall of fame epilogue

"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 hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus on whom our faith depends from start to finish..." (Hebrews 12:1-2a NLT).

No matter what sport you enjoy, the chances are pretty good that you'll find a Hall Of Fame that is dedicated to it. For example, did you know that there are Halls Of Fame dedicated to such major sports as Baseball, American Football, Soccer, Hockey, Australian Cricket and others like Snowmobiling, Fishing, Bowling, Sailing and even Water Skiing?

Each Hall Of Fame contains displays that are dedicated to the greatest athletes that ever participated in their sport. These often include the uniforms that each athlete wore, the equipment that they used and the newspapers, radio and television broadcasts that documented their greatest achievements. These things serve as testimonies to honor those athletes that were the best to ever play their sport.

Now that we've come to the end of our look at Hebrews 11, we've seen how this chapter also serves as a kind of Biblical Hall Of Fame. Like an athletic Hall Of Fame, Hebrews 11 exhibits the lives of those who were some of the greatest heroes of the faith. These men and women (and others like them) represent the huge crowd of witnesses spoken of in Hebrews 12:1 which is quoted above.

Now some people like to imagine this crowd of witnesses as a sort of "spiritual stadium" filled with heroes of the faith who are cheering on modern-day Christians as they play out the game of life. While The Doctor wouldn't go quite that far, there's no question that the God-honoring examples found in Hebrews 11 should definitely inspire Christians today to live the kind of lives that are worthy of being included in God's Hall Of Fame.

Now perhaps you don't think of yourself as a "Hall Of Fame" type of Christian. If that's the case, then you should definitely think about the kind of people that we've looked at throughout Hebrews 11. Were these people perfect? No, they weren't. Did they make mistakes? Absolutely- in some cases, they made some major mistakes! So in these respects, the members of the Faith Hall Of Fame were just like you or anyone else.

So how does this apply to you? Well, that's easy. You see, if a hot-headed playboy like Samson or a reluctant leader like Gideon or a prostitute like Rahab or the son of a prostitute like Jepthah or a guy who arranged for the murder of an innocent man like David can all be found within God's Hall Of Fame, then why can't you?

In light of this, Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to strip off every weight that slows us down from becoming everything that God wants us to be. This verse presents a kind of word-picture that was very familiar to the original readers of Hebrews. You see, in the days of the Roman Empire (the time when the book of Hebrews was originally written), athletes often trained with weights attached to their bodies much like athletes often do today. These weights were then taken off before game time so that nothing would be left to slow down each athlete's performance.

With this in mind, here's a question: is there anything that is slowing you down from becoming everything that you could be in Christ? While it's true that living an ungodly lifestyle will definitely affect your relationship with God, something that slows you down from becoming everything that God wants you to be doesn't necessarily have to be something wrong or sinful. It could include any number of things like a relationship, a job, the movies you see, the television you watch or the music that you listen to. Remember that a good thing can easily become a bad thing if it's something that's preventing you from moving forward with God's plan for your life!

We've also seen that the men and women of Hebrews 11 certainly had their share of struggles, trials and difficulties. Of course, this shouldn't come as any big surprise to us for Jesus Himself even said, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows..." (John 16:33b). The fact is that tough times are an unavoidable part of life and you are certain to see a few of your own. So when the time comes for you to experience a trial or difficulty in your own life (as you surely will), what will your response be?

Well, the answer to that question depends a lot on your point of view. For example, you can allow struggles and difficulties in your life to cause you to become worried, fearful and anxious. Or you can take a more God-honoring approach and view these things like a real hero of the faith by seeing them as opportunities to exercise the kind of faith that is pleasing to God!

Remember that the people that we've just been reading about in Hebrews 11 weren't super-human spiritual all-stars. They were ordinary people who had to deal with many of the same kinds of problems that people have today. The big difference is that the men and women of Hebrews 11 were willing to trust and believe in God for the things that He wanted to do in their lives. The Doctor believes that there is no reason why you cannot achieve the same results that the people of Hebrews 11 enjoyed if you believe God for the things that He wants to do in your life just like they did!

It's been said that the real measure of your life is not in years but in deeds, for the number of years that you've lived is not nearly as important as what you did with those years that you've lived. If you display the same kind of faith shown by the men and women of Hebrews 11 then great deeds for God are sure to follow in your life.

The Doctor is not a real doctor but he plays one on the Internet. E-Mail prescriptions are also available on an individual basis.

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