Be Still and Know - "Follow The Example Of Their Faith"

(from www.premierchristianradio.com)

1. Hebrews 13.7 NLT
   
   
   
   
   
   
   'Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.'
   
   
   Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the U.S.A., wrote “A good example is the best sermon.” He makes a good point and, as I think back to those preachers that I have heard over the years, it is undoubtedly their way of life that lives with me. I recall that some of them were very good preachers but their excellent exposition and brilliant sermon points have long since been forgotten. It’s all about example and the writer to the Hebrews encourages his readers to remember their leaders who have taught them from God’s word, and to follow the example that they have set. The Greek tense here is a command to keep on remembering them. That is to say there is something so precious about their example that it must not be forgotten.
   
   
   I would love to sit down with you now and hear about the Christian leaders that you have known. It would be good to make a list of them and against each name to put something that you need to remember as you live for God today. If you, like me, have been a Christian for many years then I would encourage you to go as far back as you can dredging through your memory for those who taught you long ago. I won’t give you the list of names that I have come up with personally but here are their qualities for which I thank God – godliness, warmth, conviction, wisdom, kindness, insight, gentleness, joy and compassion. None of these leaders was perfect but each of them gave me an insight into what it meant to live for God.
   
   
   
   
   Reading the Bible is good, and hearing about those who have lived for God throughout history can be deeply inspiring, but we undoubtedly learn most from those whom we have had the privilege of knowing personally. So let us not merely thank God for those people but actively remember the example that they have set us – and then seek to be inspired by their lives.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Question: Whose example do you need to follow particularly closely at the moment?
   
   
   Prayer: Lord, I thank you for all those Christian leaders that I have known and for the ways in which they have helped me to follow you. Amen