Yesterday during the message I mistakenly said Raybelle for Rahab. It caused a few chuckles and a big moment of embarrassment for me. It's awful when my tongue gets over my eye tooth and I can't see what I'm saying!
Anyway that night when I sought Raybelle out to say I was sorry for the slip up she said something that blessed me. She said "You can call me Rahab any time if I can have faith like she had!" What a truth, what a great attitude, what a right way to think about others. She saw what God had made her not what she was before faith. She knew the new Rahab, a product of God's mercy and grace, was a worthy hero and she wanted to be like her. Rahab was her blessing not her bad example.
So, why is it that we have such a hard time seeing what God has done in the lives of people He has saved? Why is it that the past is remembered as if there is no changing power in the Gospel we preach? Although God refers to her as the harlot in the New Testament does He only so we don't confuse her with other Rahabs. God makes her an example of a real, visible, working faith for us to follow. So who is Rahab to you, a harlot or hero? What about that brother or sister in Christ? Are they the person with a sinful past who should be avoided or a brother or sister with a forgiven present who is worthy to be followed? Remember 1 Timothy 1:12-16
That was a great follow up! We do need to remember the power behind the Words! We are a NEW creature at the time of salvation. Every one of us was in sin...whether "little" or "big". Praise God He is big enough to save us all!!! Who are we to look at someone's past, but should look at what is and what God can do in the future.
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