Commended

Hebrews 11:4 4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

I have found in life that my reputation both follows me and arrives before I get there. We live in a small world, and word gets around. We all know things about people we have never personally met, especially now with the proliferation of social media. What a curse it has become!

When I was serving in the US Army, I would arrive at a new unit and already be known. My “file” had been passed along to my next Commander and XO. Most of the time they had already talked with my previous unit and gotten a verbal report about me and my performance.

This wasn’t true only of me. This was a common and accepted practice in the military.

It used to happen in the civilian world also. Potential employers would contact previous employers and have a conversation about you and find out what kind of worker you were and your suitability for the new position. Lawyers have made this very difficult these days, so employers have had to search social media to find out about you before you interview. Beware of what you post on social media if you ever think about changing jobs!

Even in churches our reputations follow and precede. And in many towns and cities, church hoppers are known and recognized as such. It seems as though, like Pigpen in Charlie Brown, the cloud follows church hoppers as they go. They take the dirt with them and infect other communities of faith. (Maybe this is a bit of a harsh assessment, but maybe it is true.)

Our text is part of the “Famous Faith” chapter of the Scriptures. It lists people throughout the history of Israel who were “commended” for their ability to, not see the future, but still respond to the LORD in trusting action. Four times in this chapter these people had someone else testify about their trusting action in the face of not seeing the future. They were willing to take the LORD at his word.

There are also over a dozen times when their actions are rewarded, mentioned, commended. These actions, without the solid proof that they would bring fruit, were set forth as something to be emulated. They didn’t see the future, but they were willing to step into it because they knew the nature and character of their Lord. They trusted Him.

Abel’s actions were commended by the LORD. He was placed in a category of someone who is righteous, living in alignment with the design and purpose of the LORD. He is held up as an example. And in the words of the author of this letter to the Hebrews, Abel still speaks.

What does your life say? What is your reputation? What do you leave behind of yourself when you leave? What do you project into your future when you arrive?

When we are actively walking and trusting in the God who knows our future and has our best in his mind, are we aware of the cloud we bring? Is that cloud filled like a desert dust storm or a cool spring rain? What do we bring to our community?