We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. . . .

— Hebrews 12:1

This month we have focused on serving as Jesus’ witnesses. Jesus ended his ministry on earth by commissioning his followers to be his witnesses in their immediate area, in the surrounding regions, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Hebrews 12 offers some helpful encouragement in this work. In the previous chapter, Hebrews 11, the writer has listed examples of faithful followers of the Lord from early times—Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, and many, many more. They all lived as faithful witnesses of God and of the ways God worked in their lives. Then in Hebrews 12 we are told that these souls make up a great cloud of witnesses who cheer us on as we serve the Lord today.

One person in that cloud is Johanna Veenstra. More than a hundred years ago, Johanna—a woman in her twenties who was part of my church—went to serve as a missionary to the African country of Nigeria. Today there are more than 700,000 followers of Jesus in our partner church in that country. And, of course, there are even more in other Christian denominations!

We see the power of faithful witnesses all around the world. The gospel is bearing fruit on every continent. You and I, wherever we find ourselves, are invited to fix our eyes on Jesus and run the same race. May God bless and equip each one of us to be his faithful witnesses!

Jesus, thank you for the cloud of witnesses who cheer us on. Help us, we pray, to be your faithful witnesses always. Amen.