Act 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
I often hear in a sermon or other message that the one speaking would die for their faith. You hear stories in the news and read books about missionaries telling us of the brave men and women who are killed for their faith in God and being a follower of Jesus Christ. For me, I think to myself, “How would I respond in that situation? Am I really that committed to Christ that I will be willing to lay my head on the block for my faith?”
Since we, as American Christians, will probably never face that kind of situation it is very difficult to know how we would respond. The apostle Paul knew from the Holy Spirit that imprisonment and affliction awaited him in every city. He knew that wherever he went they were going to come against him and eventually his faith in Jesus would end up being his cause of death. An early church historian, Eusebius, writes that Paul was beheaded. Though the Bible is silent as to the way Paul died, it is obvious from his writings that he was willing to die for his faith and it can be assumed that he was preaching the Gospel until his very last breath.
Dying for my faith is not necessarily a question I need to worry too much about. Rather, am I going to live a life of faith? The question I struggle with today is not whether I am willing to say yes to Jesus to the point of death, but, am I willing to say yes to Jesus to point of walking in complete and unwavering faith? Am I willing to give up my financial security in work and business, am I willing to trust the outcome of my children to Him, am I willing to live in faith not knowing where the next move is going to be? Or, am I going to live in comfortable fear doing what I know works for the sake of security and peace.
God has for us a life of faith and how we respond to it is our choice. For me and Lori, we are in the season of life where the children have left the home, the debt has all been paid, and we are financially and emotionally secure. We have arrived at the American Dream… But there is that nagging call to go beyond comfortable, beyond familiar, and beyond secure to live in a place that causes our faith to be stretched and for us to grow in ways that we could never imagine. God is taking us through a process of growth that forces us to place our lives solely into His hands and control.
Where are you today? Are you willing to die for the Gospel? Can you say with certainty that you are so in love with Christ that you would give up your life because of your faith in Him? I know that is a hard question to answer, but even harder might be are you willing to give up you “way of life” for Him? Are you willing to give up that cup of Starbuck’s coffee each day to sponsor a child, or give of yourself to the point of sacrificing your free time to volunteer to help abused women? Or has God been calling you to step out in faith, quit your job, and pursue that one thing that you believe is what He has been wanting you to do but you have been to afraid to do it? Or, maybe you are right where the Lord wants you! And that is great too… Wherever you find yourself today, I encourage you to ask yourself, “Am I really living for Christ or am I living a life I have built for myself?”
Be Blessed!
Keith