Willing to Give All

Today's full reading: Revelation 12

"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." (Revelation 12:11 NIV)

It is always encouraging to hear of Christians who have stood up for the cause of Christ even unto death. They were unwilling to shrink away when faced with denying Christ or enduring great suffering. Don't get me wrong, I do not have a death wish. But, there is just something amazing to me about a person believing in something so strongly that its worth dieing for, or loving someone so deeply they are worth dieing for.

Here's a quote I love (but I don't know where I first heard it), "You haven't lived until you've found something worth dieing for."

The message of the Bible is not to be taken lightly; this is heavy stuff - life and death, heaven and hell. And, even if you don't take it that seriously, you still have to come to terms with the fact that men and women have died to preserve it for you.

Today, as an act of worship, praise God for the men and women who have given their lives for the cause of Christ.

If you are interested in hearing more about Christian persecution and suffering around the world presently and historically I recommend you checkout the Persecution Blog from the Voice of the Martyrs and read FOXE's Book of Martyrs (PDF 1.04 MB, 256 pages).

(A few other great mission organization links are The International Mission Board, South Asia Region of the IMB, and Gospel for Asia.)