“Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (v. Hebrews 12:1-3 says that since we have this “great cloud of witnesses” to affirm us, inspire us, and let us know that we are not alone, we should do four things:ġ.
By faith, by the assurance of better things hoped for, you can do it. You can lay the weights down and the sins. They have gathered along the sidelines of our race and they hold out their wounds and their joys and give us the best high-fives we ever got: “Go for it! You can do it.
This is the way all the witnesses of Hebrews 11 are helping us. And they witness to us, not by actually watching us from heaven, but by continuously “speaking” to us through their lives and examples.Īs John Piper once noted, “The best way to illustrate this, I think, is with Hebrews 11:4, where the writer speaks of Abel and says, “Through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.” So Abel is in the cloud of witnesses, and he is witnessing to us by his life through the Scriptures. For us, it would also include the modern-day Christians whose life of faith inspires us to imitate their devotion to Christ. The “witnesses” referred to in this passage are the saints who have lived and died so valiantly in Hebrews 11. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. “ 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. In the same way, Hebrews 12:1-3 claims that Christians have a never-ending source of encouragement to stay strong in our faith in those saints who have gone before us:
In doing so, Marius gains continual inspiration and motivation from his friends – even though they are gone. As the story continues, Marius realizes that the best thing he can do is to go on living life to its fullest, but he determines that he will live his life in a way that honors his friends.
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