“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB1995)
Now, I pretty much always refer back to Hebrews 11 with
regard to “the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us,” since “therefore”
generally is a reference back to what was said previously. But this morning I
am looking at this through a different lens. For, as we live the Christian life,
we do have a whole lot of people watching us, all around us, wherever we go, who
are witnesses to our words, our actions, and our behaviors, good or bad.
And then there are cameras just about everywhere now, and we
have AI listening in on our conversations which we have privately in our own
homes, so there really is not much of a thing as privacy anymore, unless for those
who may be totally disconnected from the digital world and who are able to
escape all the cameras everywhere. But if we have smartphones and computers,
and if we are on the internet, we are being watched, most likely.
But, as a side note here: Because AI does exist, and because
certain people in positions of power and influence have the capability to fake
videos and to alter recordings, they are able to make recordings and videos to
appear legitimate, and so they also have the capability of framing the
innocent, too, by making false recordings and videos in order to charge the
innocent with what they did not do, sometimes to cover up what the guilty are
doing.
So, just because you hear it or you see it in a recording or
in a video, it doesn’t necessarily mean that what you are hearing and seeing is
the absolute truth. For these alterations can end up being false witnesses,
giving false testimony to what some people are charged with doing, but did not
do, in truth. And sometimes they quote people out of context and make it appear
they are saying one thing while the context proves differently.
But the point here is that we are being watched, and we do
have people who are watching us and who are listening to us, who may be those
who will give witness to what they see and hear, even though some of those
witnesses may be breathing out lies, like Jesus’ enemies did to him. But we
should be aware that how we live and what we say have the potential to
influence other people for good or for evil. And this should encourage us to
live right.
But this should not be the main reason that we lay aside all
hindrances to our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, and that we renounce
ungodliness and worldly passions so that we can live upright, godly, morally
pure and self-controlled lives for the glory of God. Our primary motivation in
dying to sin and in obeying God with our lives is because we love Jesus/God and
we want to obey him, and we want to live pure lives for His glory.
And our eyes should be fixed on Jesus, not on other humans, concerned
about what others think about us, and thus patterning our lives after what is
socially acceptable, even if it is contrary to God’s will and purpose for our
lives. We should stay focused on Jesus and on obeying him in doing what he has
called us to do, as his servants. And we should do that regardless of what
other people think of us or say about us, or how they treat us.
But there is another motivation for obeying our Lord, as
well, and that is the end result of our lives. For if we die with Christ to
sin, by faith, and we walk in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope
of eternal life with God, provided we stay the course to the very end. But if
we profess him as Lord, but then we do not obey his commands, and so we
continue in deliberate and habitual sin, we will not inherit eternal life with
God. We will face his wrath, instead. But still we should obey God because we
love him.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22;
Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews
12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
My Sheep
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
My sheep hear me.
They know me.
They listen to my
voice and obey.
I call them and lead
them.
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
They will never
follow strangers.
They will run away
from them.
The voice of a
stranger they know not;
They do not follow
him.
So, I tell you the
truth that
I am the gate, so
you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find
forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever
enters
Not by the gate;
other way,
He is the thief and
a robber.
Listen not, the
sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good
Shepherd,
Who laid his own
life down for the sheep.
I know them. They
know me.
They will live with
me eternally.
The thief only comes
to steal and
Kill and to destroy
the church.
I have come to give
you life that
You may have it to
the full…
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
Run With Endurance
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