“Are You Kidding Me”!?!

 

A Series on Living by Faith
(Use the link below to read the verses.)
Joshua 2:1-24; Hebrews 11:31

[Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

 

Did you have a childhood friend, who when they grew up, really surprised you at what they accomplished? I did.

 

He was a high school class mate who skated through school with high grades, but never seemed to take anything seriously; except sports maybe. In fact, in many ways, he was the class clown.

 

But as an adult, he went to college, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree plus two masters and his PhD. He was a professor at a Christian college and served as the Provost for a number of years. I don’t know what a Provost does, but it’s capitalized and sounds very impressive. He has also written six Christian books to date.

 

I could tell you stories about him from high school that would make you say, “Are you kidding me”?!?

 

You could make the same statement about Rahab. She was a Canaanite woman; which for the Jews meant she had two strikes against her right off the bat. Then there was the matter of being a prostitute. It’s possible that from her traveling clients that she learned about the Jewish God, and the Jews military victories.

 

Whatever the case may be, based on her background, you would never have expected her to be praised for her faith and for her works.

 

³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.         Hebrews 11 NIV

 

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?                      James 2 NIV

 

Her crowning achievement though, the one where you would say, “Are you kidding me”; is that she was an ancestor of Jesus. Think about it. The Lord Jesus was a descendant of a Canaanite prostitute.

 

This just goes to show you that our Lord is not restricted by the expectations or prejudgments of others. He can, and often does, take people who are just ordinary, and works in their life to accomplish great things through His love and grace.

 

Therefore, you might ask yourself, “How is the Lord working in your life”? Do others look at you and ask, “Are you kidding me”?