Playing By The Rules

“…to obey is better than sacrifice....” – I Samuel 15:22b

If you have read Hebrews 11 lately, you probably came away feeling like a second string junior varsity benchwarmer, and why not? After all, these Old Testament saints have a pretty impressive record. While they quenched the violence of fire, we get burned trying. While they escaped the edge of the sword, we cut ourselves shaving. The obvious conclusion? Great things happened in the past because these men and women were super human. Don’t you believe it!

There was a book written years ago titled God’s Squad. This would seem to be an appropriate title for Hebrews 11. While you read about this great lineup of the past, allow me to interject a few statistics about these men that perhaps you never knew. After all, “you can’t tell the players without a program.” I won’t cover the whole team, So here is a quick look at the front four.

Moses
Made all prophet 40 years in a row, however because he failed to play by the rules, he never got into the end zone.

David
MVP in the kingdom but was severely penalized for holding, i.e., someone other than his wife.

Abraham
Kicked the game off, but lost lots of yardage because of unsportsmanlike conduct. He lied on several occasions.

Sampson
Strongest man on the team. Unfortunately he was sent to the locker room early because his old nature was even stronger.

Well now how do they look? It just might shock you to know if some of these men were alive today their mug shots would be hanging in the local post office. Do I sound disrespectful? Do I seem a bit ungrateful to those who in past years ran the interference so that I might play a better game? Hardly! I praise God for giving me a list of real people with whom I can identify. These were not super saints but simply men of “like passion.” Please don’t cloud the issue. God does not condone their sin but commends their faith. He does the same for us. That’s the way I see things.