Paving the Way of Faith

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”      Hebrews 12:1,

Here the writer to the Hebrews exhorts all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, the “author and perfecter of our faith” (v. 2), to do two things. First, we are to remove or put off any burden that keeps us from being like Christ, especially sin because sin ensnares us and keeps us in bondage to itself. Second, we are to persevere, patiently enduring all things until we grow and mature in the faith. 

So who are the “cloud of witnesses,” and how is it they “surround” us? The author of Hebrews begins chapter 12 with a reference to faithful men and women who paved the way of faith for us. We are surrounded by the saints of the past in a unique way. It’s not that the faithful who have gone before us are spectators to the race we run. Rather, it is a figurative representation and means that we ought to act as if they were in sight and cheering us on to the same victory in the life of faith that they obtained. Their lives were godly examples for us to follow. That the cloud is referred to as “great” indicates that millions of believers have gone before us, each bearing witness to the life of faith we now live. 

In Christ,
Rev. Elyse Milligan Nielsen