The World was not Worthy of Them

This fall the kids and I have been working on memorizing Hebrews chapter 11. That chapter is such a great reminder of the importance of faith and just how what is really important is not what happens now but rather what happens for all eternity.

  There is one section that makes me rather choke up with emotion nearly every time we go over it. I think part of the reason it has been affecting me so deeply is because of our daily reading from The Voice of the Martyrs. There have been people since nearly the world began who endured suffering for Christ's sake (That was something we found very interesting in Hebrews 11:26- Moses endured disgrace for Christ's sake even though in human terms he lived before Him) and there are many people still doing it today. We are very blessed in the country we live in to be able to worship freely and without persecution but reading about the experiences of others and memorizing God's word on the issue is very strengthening to our faith and to our resolve to live for God no matter what!

Here is God's Word:
Hebrews 11:32-40
 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—  the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

May you be blessed as well as you think about the examples we have to look up to!