What Would I be Willing to Die For?

By Jeff Curtis

Recently in an episode of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls needed surgery. In that day and time there was no insurance to pay for such events. That doctor wouldn’t perform the surgery unless the parents had the money to pay for it. Charles, the father, went home and was willing to sell everything he owned to be able to pay for the surgery. No one could buy the farm to help him. He went looking for work and found a job digging into a mountain, handling dynamite.

He was willing to take extra risks for more hazard pay. Even if it meant his life. He was willing to die, if need be, for the love he had for his daughter Mary. I don’t know of any parent that wouldn’t be willing to die for their children or their loved ones.

In the book of Acts in chapter seven, we read of a man willing to die for his faith. Would we be willing to die for our faith? Each of us should ask, “What would I be willing to die for?” Men have died for their countries. Men have died for their families. Men have died for causes they believed in. We need to thank God, that men like Stephen have been willing to die for their faith in Jesus, even to this present day. Would you be willing to die for your faith?

As you think about that question, consider this: You will never die for your faith until you first are willing to live for it. The Christ – like attitudes of Stephen were not suddenly developed as stones began to be hurled against his body. Long before that moment, he had committed his life to the Lord and could be spoken of as “full of the Spirit and wisdom,” “full of faith,” and “full of grace and power.” His victory in death reflected his victorious life.

Have you committed your life to Jesus? If you were to die right now, could you pray, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” – and know that Jesus would be waiting to receive you with open arms? A crown of victory is waiting for you, as there was for Stephen, if you will only submit your life to the Lord.

Who Made It?

author unknown

     Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist - the friend was an infidel, while Newton was a devout Christian, and they often discussed their views concerning God.

     Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system. In the center was a large, gilded ball representing the sun, and revolving in their proper order around this were small balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying lengths, representing the planets. These balls were geared together by cogs and belts, so they moved in perfect harmony when turned by a crank.

     One day as Newton sat reading in his study with this mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. Stepping up to it, he slowly turned the crank, and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies move in their relative speed in their orbits.

     Standing off a few feet, he exclaimed, “My! What an exquisite thing this is! Who made it?”

     Without looking up from his book, Newton answered, “Nobody!”

     Quickly turning to Newton, the infidel friend said, “Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked you who made this.”

     Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in.

    The astonished infidel replied with some heat, “You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it. He is a genius and I’d like to know who he is.”

     Laying his book aside, Newton arose and laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without either a designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?”

Meditate on This:

1 Samuel 15:22

So, Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.

                                   FORGIVE AND FORGET

                                                          By Luther Blackmon

An old Negro slave had defied his master’s order not to read the Bible and was being flogged for it. As the whip cut into his flesh his owner taunted him with: "What can your Bible do for you now, boy?" "It can teach me to forgive master," he replied.

It is sometimes more difficult to forget than to remember. But we must learn to forget. "We do not mean literally to forget, but to cease to nurse a grudge, to put the thing behind us, never to be brought up again, no matter what happens in the future.

We need to forget our past failures. Don’t cry over spilt milk; get up and milk the cow again. When you have tried something and failed, learn a lesson from your failure and then forget it.

Some people can never get over a slight by someone, or a wrong done them. The penitentiary is full of people who could not forget a real or imagined wrong, either by an individual or society as a whole. A man told me that one of the reasons he had never become a Christian was that he could not forgive a wrong done him. One of the first recorded statements of the Lord was: "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:15) We had better remember that no unforgiving person can have fellowship with a forgiving God.

When Abraham Lincoln was President, he was bitterly criticized by Edward McMasters Stanton. He called Lincoln a "low cunning clown," the "original gorilla." Stanton was a Democrat, but after the attack on Ft. Sumter, Lincoln appointed him Secretary of War, because Stanton was a loyal man and qualified for the job, and because Lincoln was more concerned for the country than for Stanton’s opinion of him. When Mr. Stanton looked into the rugged and homely face of Lincoln after he was killed, he remarked in subdued tones of respect, "There lies the greatest leader this country has ever known." Would it not be nice if Christians would put the interest of the Lord’s work and His church before their own petty little injuries? We could use a lot of real men and women who have the spirit of Lincoln with regard to this matter.

A little girl was asked to define forgiveness. She said in substance, "I don’t know the definition, but it is like this: when you crush a rose, the only resistance it offers is a sweet fragrance."

Paul might have remembered the ill treatment he received at Philippi, but instead he said: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mind for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippians 1:3-4)