Pastor John D Jakes

In May we celebrate Memorial Day. It is a day that we remember in this country what those who have gone before us have done. Our service men and women show us that freedom is precious. It is worth fighting for even if the one who fights will never get to use it again.

Think on that for a moment: Many of our soldiers give their lives to protect someone else’s freedom. They won’t get to use their own because they have given up their life! How precious freedom is to them. They believe… so they act.

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”– Hebrews 11:13

This is not just something we see with our soldiers. This is also the life of the faithful believers in Jesus before us. The book of Hebrews tells us that the believers of the past, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance…” The faithful before us lived believing that following God, even when He asked them to wait until Heaven to see His glory, was worth it.

I am from Missouri – the show me state. The faith of those who have come before us challenges me to believe without seeing. Their lives declare that Jesus is worth it. Their lives also ask me, “What is my life declaring?” What about you? What does your life declare to those around you? Does it declare that Jesus is worth following with your whole life?

Something to think about,

Pastor John