The great cloud of witnesses commended to us for their ability
to endure were less than perfect examples of faithful witnesses. The ones who
passed through the Red Sea made the golden calf. The ones who circled the walls
of Jericho until they fell down fell prey to greed and kept some of the
“dedicated things” from the forsaken city. Samson may have torn down the temple
but he also dallied with Delilah. David would have liked to build the temple
but was denied that honor because he violated Bathsheba and murdered her husband
Uriah the Hittite. The point is the great cloud of witnesses is remembered
because God remembered them despite their tendency to forget God. So we are
surrounded by a great cloud of folks a lot like us and the encouragement they
offer is that God gifted them with a reward they could not create and did not
deserve. That is why we look past the cloud and fix our eyes on the pioneer and
perfecter of faith who for the sake of the joy that was set before him – that
would be the world he came to save – endured more than the whole cloud of
witnesses put together. So by all means run with perseverance the race set
before you but recognize that when you stumble and fall the crowd might cheer
you on but it will be Jesus who picks you up.
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