Faithful but Not Forgotten

Hey there, and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading, titled Faithful, but not forgotten, was written by Leslie Coe. 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 Sean. They took him into their home and got their children to be big brother and big sister to him, which gave Sean 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.

And the world, says the writer, was not worthy of them. 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. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Hebrews chapter 11 verses 32 through 40. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the Lord, whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning. They were sawed in two. They were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them.

They wandered in the deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, please continue to show us the good works You've prepared for us to do. May we act selflessly out of our love for You and with a desire to be a vessel carrying Your love to others. Thank You, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. I'm Stephen Tabor, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.