Miles McNair

We are “compassed” (surrounded) by a great cloud of witnesses” as the letter to the Hebrews states. But really what does that mean? Well, for a basic understanding, we can think of it this way — we stand on the shoulders of giants. The men and women of the faith who came before us trod the path that was set before them and have shown us the possibilities of faithfulness to the one true God. Through faith in the promise and power of God, the saints of yesterday despite being persecuted often to death remained faithful to Jesus Christ and through these acts of faith we can take courage, they endured to the end through the power of God and so can we. These trials, though heavy, are just momentary, and paraphrasing the Apostle Paul, are not worthy to be compared to what is to come.

Our vision is clouded by the day-to-day activities and we lose sight of eternity and what true success looks like. Looking at those witnesses, those who lived in caves were sawed in half and wandered about in animal skins, scripture tells us that the world was not worthy of them. That is true success, faithfulness to God, and doing what he wants no matter what comes. Were there a lot of people in church Sunday? No. Well, did God put you there and did you give him your all? Yes. Well, that is a success. Did you show up Sunday and teach Sunday school and you don’t think the young ones learned anything? Did you prepare and teach the best you could? Yes, success! Be faithful to the end, beloved. Endure as Christ endured, endure as you are called to endure, as this is the least we can do for the one who gave himself for us.       

(Miles McNair is the connections pastor at New Life Church of Powell.)