receiving the promise

Hebrews 11:39-40

The key word, as in this entire section, is faith. The author points out that all the people listed and referred to lived by faith and yet none of them received what had been promised. For the author, this is the essence of faith: building your life on what is unseen and hoped for. This speaks against the prosperity gospel which claims that faith gives you riches and success and fulfillment of the promise immediately. According to the author, faith makes you homeless and impoverished and even lifeless because the person of faith is not tied to the things of this world. The person of faith recognizes that there is something better ahead.
The author makes an interesting statement that the perfection or fulfillment of their faith would only happen through us. We, being brought to God through Christ, represent all the hopes of these people who lived by faith before us. In us, and through Christ, the promises God gave to these people are fulfilled. It is no wonder, then, that the author describes them as a great cloud of witnesses. They have a vested interest in our faithfulness because in our faithfulness they see the fulfillment of God's promise. This is what they lived, and sometimes died, for.
Two things: 1) I think we are too tied to the world. I think I am too tied to the world. I love my life. I love my job. I love my house. I don't love my car but I loved my other car. I love the things that technology has to offer and the comforts that this world has to offer and I long for most of them. I envy them. I am too often focused on this world and not on Christ. I value the treasures of this world too much and value the treasure of heaven, which is Christ, too little. 2) We too often see our faith as an individual private act. Paul constantly speaks against this, teaching that our faith is lived out in community. Here, the author goes even further saying that our faith is the fulfillment of the faith of our spiritual ancestors. So, run the race with perseverance... (but now I'm getting ahead of myself!)