How is your courage going? Would you say you are currently being courageous or cowardly for the Lord? Are you being courageous in your tithing? Are you being courageous in the hours you spend serving the church? Are you being courageous in talking to others about Jesus, or inviting them to come and meet Jesus at church? If not, how can we build our courage?
One of the ‘heroes of faith’ the author of Hebrews chooses to focus his attention on is Moses. One of the courageous things Moses does is give up the luxury and security of the palace, where he was raised, to identify with his people the Israelites. The problem is, the Israelites were slaves of Pharoah. So what gave Moses the courage to give up his life of privilege for a life of oppression? It is because he ‘regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward’ (Heb 11:26).
Jesus uses similar words when he says ‘store up treasures in heaven’ (Matt 6:20). When we give God our leftovers, we’re often doing so to pursue earthly wealth. When we enjoy the ministry of others but choose to spend our own time on ourselves, we’re often doing so to pursue earthly activities or pleasures. And when we choose to ignore opportunities to speak about Jesus, we’re often doing so to protect our earthly reputation or relationships.
What made Moses so courageous was he saw how fleeting and unsatisfying earthly treasures and pleasures are, having experienced the full range of them growing up in Pharoah’s palace. He realised real meaning and fulfilment in life comes from identifying with, relating to and serving our creator, regardless of what earthly costs might be involved. For our reward to come far outweighs any treasures on earth we may acquire.
So may we choose treasures in heaven (i.e. an eternity with our creator) over anything this life has to offer, and be truly courageous Christians.
