September 19 | Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 1–3; 2 Corinthians 11:16–33

Faithful but Not Forgotten

These were all commended for their faith. Hebrews 11:39

READ Hebrews 11:32–40

As he was growing up, Sean knew little about what it meant to have a family. His mother had died and his father was hardly home. He often felt lonely and abandoned. A couple who lived nearby, however, reached out to him. They took him into their home and got their children to be ‘big brother’ and ‘big sister’ to him, which gave him assurance that he was loved. They also took him to church, where Sean, now a confident young man, is a youth leader today.

Although this couple played such a key role in turning a young life around, what they did for Sean isn’t widely known to most people in their church family. But God knows, and I believe their faithfulness will be rewarded someday, as will those listed in the Bible’s ‘Hall of Faith’. Hebrews 11 starts with the big names of Scripture, but it goes on to speak of countless others we may never know, yet who “were all commended for their faith” (v. 39). And “the world,” says the writer, “was not worthy of them” (v. 38).

Even when our deeds of kindness go unnoticed by others, God sees and knows. What we do might seem like a small thing—a kind deed or an encouraging word—but God can use it to bring glory to His name, in His time and in His way. He knows, even if others don’t.

By Leslie Koh

What is one simple thing you could do for someone today? How can you remind yourself that God knows your heart and the work of your hands?

Heavenly Father, please continue to show me what good works You’ve prepared for me to do, and give me the faith to do it for You alone.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Writing to encourage Jewish believers in Jesus to remain faithful during suffering brought about by severe persecution, the unnamed author of Hebrews named specific well-known people from Israel’s history who’d lived “by faith” (11:4–32) and stressed that many others too had lived that way (vv. 32–38). Also known as the “Hall of Faith,” Hebrews 11 reminds us that “without faith it is impossible to please God” ( v. 6). “Faith,” according to the writer, “shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (v. 1 NLT). The faithful showed what faith looks like when they unwaveringly held on to God’s promises to them, even though “none of them received what had been promised” in their lifetime (v. 39).