Dear Friends in Christ:

Recently I was stirred in my spirit about a verse I read in Psalm 61. The fifth verse of that Psalm tells us that God has given us the heritage of those that fear His name. I stopped as I read this and began to think about what this meant. The Spirit of God began to reveal to me the seriousness of what each believer has inherited from our Heavenly Father. Each of us has inherited some natural attributes from our family background that influence who we are and how we live. When we come into the family of God we enter into a spiritual heritage. We are no longer limited by natural ability or opportunity because we now possess the heritage of faith (2 Peter 1:1 “to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”).

A heritage is defined as a way of life handed down by ancestors to be upheld and continued by future generations. We as Christians have come into a great heritage; the heritage of faith. The life we live as Christians has been handed down by spiritual ancestors who have gone before us and we are expected to keep the faith and continue the lifestyle of faith to others after us. The Bible tells us in several places that, “the just shall live by faith”. Faith is a lifestyle, a way of life that we have been blessed to inherit, a great heritage to live up to and reproduce.

I like to read in Hebrews chapter 11 about the elders (verse 2) that have set an example for us to follow. By faith they did great exploits and received the power of God in their lives. Hebrews chapter 12 continues this thought and speaks to us in the first verse about being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. In other words, those who have gone before us are eagerly watching from a heavenly grandstand and are cheering us on to stay faithful.

We are part of the heritage of faith and they are exhorting us to rise to the challenge of living for God in these difficult days. The first 3 verses of Hebrews 12 give us a couple of clues as to how we can honorably uphold this spiritual heritage.

Verse one reminds us of our companions in the faith; those who have preceded us and are waiting for us to complete the path of victory. We must not neglect to choose our companions wisely if we are to live by faith successfully. See Psalm 119:63 and Proverbs 13:20. “Iron sharpens iron” Proverbs 27:17 tells us. Let people of faith help keep you true to your heritage.

Verse one also directs us to lay aside sins and weights. I call this consecration. We must separate ourselves from ungodly and unnecessary pursuits if we are to finish the race called faith. There is no substitute for a holy lifestyle. Love God and hate sin, you won’t regret it. The third key we find in verse one of Hebrews 12 is courage. We are told to run our race with patience. This means perseverance, discipline, endurance. It takes courage to stand up against opposition and do what’s right. Stand firm in your heritage of faith and don’t compromise it for anything.

The last thing is mentioned in verses 2-3. We are told to keep our eyes on Jesus and to consider Him and His ways. This means that we must constantly compare our actions and our decisions to the example He left for us. He endured the greatest opposition and the greatest burden in human history; the sin of the world. If we continually look to Him and see the sacrifice He made to fulfill the will of the Father then we can draw strength to carry on our own destiny. Nothing we will ever face comes close to what He suffered. If He can stand true in the face of such great opposition then certainly we can fulfill our call. We are so blessed to have this heavenly heritage, the heritage of those who fear God, the heritage of faith. Let’s not take it lightly. Let us endeavor to uphold this way of life and pass it on to those who have yet to come.

For His Name,

John Merola