Strength
Out Of Weakness
And what more should I say? For time
would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who
through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut
the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won
strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to
accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered
mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to
death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in
skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented
– of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and
in caves and holes in the ground.
Yet all these, though they were
commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had
provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made
perfect.
The redeemed sinners listed are all
remembered for one common virtue – that they had obtained a good testimony
through faith. Long after their deaths, the record of their lives of faith and
obedience still inspire us today. Few of us will be recorded in history books
after we leave this world. But all of us will leave behind memories with our
families and friends. Those closest to us are watching our response to God
through times of testing and blessing.
Are you living
in faith and obedience to Him?
What will be
the legacy of your life?
speaks more
eloquently than words.
Our Daily
Bread –