Heroes of Faith

“Follow me” (Matthew 9:9).

“Follow me.”

This is one of the most repeated invitations of Jesus. This is the essential quality of a disciple of Jesus. This is the essential character of being a follower of Jesus.

Hebrews chapters 11 functions as the “Hall of Fame” of biblical heroes. They are all there. Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, David, Samuel. What made these men and women heroes of the faith? What is the key differentiating factor between the heroes of faith and the rest of us?

Following God. Following Jesus.

I bet ya…not one of these guys thought of themselves as heroes. Abraham didn’t walk around singing, “Father Abraham had many sons…had many sons had Father Abraham.” Moses didn’t know that people would be looking up to him as a hero. He was just following what God commanded him to do.

Not one of the heroes in the Hall of Fame of faith saw themselves as heroes. They were merely following what God commanded them to do. Not one of them walked around saying, “Let’s do some heroic things today that will be remembered for the ages!”

They just did what God told them to do. Doing what God told them to do, following God, made them men and women of character, honor, and integrity. Following God made them into God-honoring parents, children, friends, and leaders.

That’s the key – follow Jesus. Do what he says. Do what he does. Follow Jesus. The goal isn’t to do heroic things. The goal is to do what God tells us…to follow Jesus.

And as we follow Jesus, we might just end up being the heroes of faith in our day for our time.