If you “love your privacy” you may not like this article. Why? Because no one of us has any privacy! Our theme Scripture for today establishes this truth for every believer. God “inspired” the writer of Hebrews to tell us we have no privacy. Hear it.
“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1)
God is obviously referring to the “witnesses” of great faith that were enumerated in the previous chapter of Hebrews. Chapter 11 has been called the “catalog of faith” since the people named here were picked by God himself.
However, does it not clearly follow that if God refers to these people of faith as “witnesses,” every other person of faith who has finished life here on earth is also a “witness” among those surrounding us.
That means, for sure, that you and I have no privacy. Not only does Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and all the others named in Hebrews 11 witness my entire life, but also many others whom I love even more than these.
A study of both the words “surrounded” and “witnesses” leave one with the unmistakable fact that we are viewed by folk who now have “firsthand knowledge” of our every deed and thought.
Among these for me, in addition to those God references, would be my mom, my dad, Ed Carter (who taught and converted me), Sim Wisenbaker (my old mentor), many precious loved ones who’ve died here among us, Dick Gutteridge (a beloved brother in Christ who died recently in New Zealand), and many many others.
Most of us are motivated to our best behavior, attitude, and demeanor when we know we are in the presence of others who matter to us. Lord, are you saying we should live knowing all our now departed loved ones who believe we are “people of genuine faith” are observing our every moment either with gladness or tears? The only possible answer is “Yes.” And, Jesus himself, who spoke through the pain, shame, and the taste of death itself saying, “It is finished,” Earl’s sins are paid for. He too is a witness to everything in my life every day. Let’s wake up and become and remain aware of our witnesses and “live lives worthy of Him who calls us.”