Rolling Out The Red Carpet


The Academy Awards are on tonight. All sorts of awards will be given out. They range from well known ones like, “Best Actress,” to uncommon ones like, “Best Sound Editing.” If you’ve ever wondered why the trophies at the Academy Awards are called Oscars no one seems to know for sure. A story is told that a woman in the office saw the trophy back in the 1930s and said, “That looks like my cousin, Oscar.” (I’m not making this up). I’m not sure if her uncle was a slender man, or if he was shiny gold with no facial expression, but the name stuck.

It has to be a pretty big deal to win a statue that looks like that woman’s shiny uncle, because people get all dressed up for it in their “Sunday go to meeting” clothes. Millions of people also watch it on television, and there will be plenty of stories written tomorrow about who won what, and who wore what.

The Bible has some stories written about some folks who really stood out as well. I don’t think they received a shiny statue that looked like anyone’s uncle, but they do get mentioned in a unique chapter in the book of Hebrews.

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.” Hebrews 11:1-2

The writer of Hebrews then goes on to list some great things people have done by faith. We often refer to it as our faith Hall of Fame. These were people who weren’t necessarily the best at their professions, hobbies, sports, or anything else like that. They just trusted God and did what he said to do. In the kingdom this makes you pretty spectacular. As you read through the chapter you discover some folks who were thought to be pretty radical or crazy in their day. This still happens to those who walk by faith. When you’re someone who simply does what God says to do there will be times when even well meaning believers won’t understand what you’re doing. Keep walking by faith.

The folks who win those statues tonight will be remembered for years. Those who walk by faith may not even be noticed on earth. They won’t be forgotten in Heaven though. Great will be their reward.

Following the Son,

James A Williams

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