The
people who knew themselves as “strangers and pilgrims on
the earth” “declared plainly that they seek for a country”
according to the writer of Hebrews, and in chapter eleven and
verse fifteen of Hebrews the writer shares
what would have happened if they were “mindful of that
country from where they came out” where we read:
And truly,
if they had been mindful of that country
from where they came out,
they
might have had opportunity to have returned.
The
verse begins, “And truly, if they had
been mindful of that country
from where they came out,...”. The
writer began with the words, “And
truly”
which means “and verily, certainly and indeed”,
“if they had been mindful”
or “whether they had remembered, called to mind and thought or
felt” “of that country from”
which refers
to “a state of separation and distance of place and time” “where”
or “the
place from which” “they came out”
which refers to “the place the people forsook, escaped and
emanated”. The writer referred to his people of “faith”
“remembering” their current state and place rather than the ones
“promised”
to them.
The
verse goes on to say, “ they might have had opportunity
to have returned.”. The writer
continued with the words, “they might have had
opportunity” or “there was a
possibility, consideration and possibility” “to have
returned” which means “to
bend or turn back”. If the people of “faith” of
whom the writer of Hebrews referred would have “remembered” only
their current or past “country” or state, they may have
“returned” to it
rather than proceed toward the “promised”
one of God.
When
we think through these words in Hebrews, we see how the people of
“faith” could have “looked back” instead of forward
when it came to the “promises” of God. Rather than keeping
in mind their current conditions or the place from which they came,
these “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” kept their
focus “toward the future”. They could have “returned”
to their places or conditions, but they directed their attention
toward the place or situation God “promised”. Jesus Christ
came to save people from their sins, and He promised there would be
“everlasting life” for all who “believe in Him”.
We, like the people of “faith” of whom the writer of
Hebrews referred, must keep our focus toward the “promise”
of Jesus, and as we do, we shall receive the blessing of “eternal
life”.
Next
time the writer shares how these people of “faith”
“desire a better country”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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