Twelve men went to explore the land of Canaan—-the “promised land”. But when they returned, ten men questioned if the nation of Israel was up the to the task of taking what God was offering. Only two men argued that God could bring the victory and seize what God had promised.
The odds of defeating the people living in the promised land seemed impossible, on the limited resources of the Israelites, so the ten reasoned on the side of playing it safe. But of course the majority is sometimes very wrong. Oftentimes it is the few, the minority, that speak for God or that make sense spiritually. Don’t be surprised if you hear that the “majority” believe this or that, and later find out that they are mistaken or deceived. Sometimes we hear and believe what we want, and at other times we just seem too quick to believe the bad, sad depressing news.
The people of Israel believed the bad news and did not believe that God would do what He promised, and paid for it for forty years! We can believe Him and have the victory or wander around for the rest of our lives—-it’s our choice. I choose to cast my dreams and hopes for a better day upon Him and I lay all my fears and inadequacies at the foot of the cross. I have no doubt that He is able to do immeasurably more than I can hope for, and I am certain that if I let go of my ambitions and allow Him to lead me I can conquer all things and do all things! Imagine what He could do with a nation that held to that same truth in 2021?
Lately it seems that no one wants to have a hero in our history or cultural discourse. Everyone that we once looked up to as a hero or role model we now learn was secretly a racist, a bigot, a womanizer, or that his great, great grandparents owned slaves or participated in the witch trials.
It is as if we don’t want to believe good news or have real heroes; we prefer to believe that all great men and women all had unrevealed disgusting sins or bent ways of thinking. It denies that we can “take possession” of great things or admire great people, makes us feel better about our restrained choices in our lives and helps lend support to the notion that no one needs to repent, change or be responsible. Since no human being is ever able to really attain a truly “heroic” life, we need not worry about being heroic either.
But even if all the revisionists are right (and they are not, of course), there’s a problem with this man named “Jesus” (and the lives that live/lived what He taught like Saint Francis of Assisi.) The fact remains that Jesus was/is a hero (though He was the Son of The Almighty God, and lived not like a hero but just a humble servant) and because of Him there have been people in history that have lived “the beatitudes”—despite naysayers attempt to prove that these men and women did not exist or that their biographies have been embellished.
There are heroes and heroines that deserve our respect and admiration. Let’s teach this to our kids and not deny our heritage! And it’s okay to be optimistic about the future without acting unaware of the great fight we are up against. But there’s no reason anyone of us cannot live a hero's life by choosing to above pettiness, dishonesty and rivalry.
“I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me”——-didn’t somebody once say that?
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