Ok, we’ve looked at some of the ways the modern church
has hindered the proper development of manly heroes, now let’s look at some of
the characteristics of biblical heroes found throughout the pages of Scripture.
The purpose here is to stimulate men to introduce the specific characteristics
necessary and then envision themselves being that type of man, a man called for
such a time as this. Here is the first group of heroes called, “the Gadites.”
“Some Gadites
joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men
trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like
the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains… These were the
sons of Gad, captains of the army; the least was over a hundred and the
greatest was over a thousand. These were the ones who crossed the Jordan in the
first month, when it had overflowed all its banks; and they put to flight all
those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.” (1 Chronicles 12:8, 14-15)
Our first illustration is found in the book of 1 Chronicles,
a group of eleven men from Gad that were quite impressive. The initial
paragraph above (in italics) lists their
accolades. Verses 9-13 gave the names and families of each of these 11 men, but
the verses quoted above describe six key elements of what made these men
Biblical Heroes. Here is that list:
“mighty
men of valor”
“men
trained for battle, could handle both shield and spear”
“faces
like the faces of lions”
“swift
as gazelles on the mountains”
“captains
– of hundreds – of thousands”
“crossed
the Jordan…when it overflowed all its banks”
These were some really tough hombres! Notice some of the
phrases used – mighty men of valor, trained for battle, faces like lions, swift
as gazelles, my gracious, these guys would bring home the Lombardi Trophy
every time! Did you catch how they crossed the Jordan during the monsoon season!?
These guys were beasts! When you consider it would take a very strong, healthy
man to cross the Jordan on a normal day, imagine the stamina required to cross
it when it was overflowing its banks! There is only one way these men could
accomplish such feats of wonder and that was selfless discipline. They were in it ALL the way! Men, this is your first characteristic to grab –
selfless discipline.
Think about it. Ezer (the first Gadite listed in v. 9) did
not wake up one morning and say, “Hey, I’m going to cross the Jordan today while
it’s overflowing its banks, just to see if I can do it.” Hey, this is like trying to survive a flood! The amount of training
involved, muscle development, increased respiratory and cardio function, along
with the sheer determination to accomplish such a superhuman feat required a
significant amount of personal discipline that can only be measured in time. Ezer had to have trained for months,
crossing the Jordan at normal levels first, adding to his strength and stamina,
working out steadily with increasingly more resistance and challenges until he
was at his peak. Put more succinctly, it didn’t just happen! Discipline is an
everyday kind of thing that requires TIME! It’s not the singular event that
makes a hero, but the preparedness and commitment to do what is right
consistently because it is right. This is the first lesson to being a hero – selfless discipline.
Part 2 of Gadite
Gridiron to follow.
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