From a Distance

Abram Journeying into the Land of Canaan (engraving by Gustave Doré from the 1865 La Sainte Bible) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My Bible study topic for the high school girls this week was Hebrews 12:1-2 and in preparation I decided to go back and read chapter 11 for context. I wanted to help the girls see what all these heroes of the faith had in common that made them heroes. They didn't all have the same race to run, each had their own mission from God. They didn't face all the same obstacles and hardships. They were different ages, genders, and nationalities. Some of them made big mistakes. Some of them were afraid or doubtful. But they all obeyed. In faith. I'm kinda glad that how much faith they had isn't a detail that is recorded in Scripture, only that they had it. Maybe some of them started with only a mustard seed's worth. 

My attention was drawn especially to Abraham. Perhaps it's because being a missionary makes me feel like I relate to Abraham just a teensy weensy bit:

     "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God." (vs.8-10)

Our family said yes to God when He said "Go," without knowing where we were going. We have made our home here as strangers in a foreign country and in some ways will always be regarded as strangers regardless of how long we stay or how well we adapt. Abraham lived in tents. Even in the promised land he was a transient. His son and grandson also had to live in a strange land, just as our children had to come here and be foreigners alongside of us. 

But Abraham was not focused on his circumstances. He was focused on the promise! He knew that the earthly promised land he pitched his tent in was nothing compared to the heavenly promised land he was looking forward to! And he wasn't the only one.

     "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (vs. 13-16)

They saw them and welcomed them from a distance. You have to be looking forward, not back, to see what's on the horizon. They admitted they were aliens. The Message Bible says it like this: "They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world." 

Transients. Just passin' through. 

 Have you ever seen someone you love way off in the distance and waved a greeting? Or even just across an airport terminal? You don't just wave. You smile. You beam! If you are related to me you shout and maybe jump up and down a few times. And you take off toward them! You can't wait to get to them! The closer you get, the more excited you become.

I may not always know where I am going, but I know I want to keep looking forward in anticipation of all He has in store for me. I want to welcome it from a distance.