This past Sunday, Christians around the world paused for All Saints Day, a day to remember the faithful who have gone before us. This week in Bible Study, we turn to Hebrews 12, where the writer paints a picture that is hard to forget:
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)
Hebrews 11 has just walked us through a roll call of faith: Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, and so many more. They did not see every promise fulfilled, yet they kept believing. Then chapter 12 turns to us and says, in effect: they ran their race; now it is your turn.
Every one of us at Mosby can name our own cloud of witnesses. A grandmother who prayed over us before we knew how to pray. A Sunday School teacher who knew our name and expected our best. A deacon whose quiet faithfulness showed us what it looks like to keep showing up. The mothers of the church who fed us, corrected us, and loved us anyway. Some of them sat in these very pews. Their names may not be in Hebrews 11, but they are written on our hearts, and they are known to God.
So how do we honor them? Not only by remembering them, though we should. We honor them by running our race well. By laying aside what weighs us down. By teaching the next child, praying for the next family, and showing up for the next ministry need with the same faithfulness they showed us.
And notice where the passage points us next: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). The witnesses cheer us on, but Jesus is the One who started this race in us, and He is the One who will see us to the finish.
This week, take a moment to thank God for someone in your cloud of witnesses. If they are still with us, call them and tell them what they mean to you. If they have gone on to glory, share their story with someone younger. Then join us for Wednesday Night Bible Study as we study Hebrews 12 together.
We are surrounded. Let us run.