You are currently browsing the daily archive for October 1, 2015.
And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” Jeremiah 1:8
The story is told of an illegal Bible Study found out in a communist country. The soldiers who discovered the Bible Study told those in attendance that they would all be shot. Then, in a moment of false mercy, the head soldier said, “I’ll let you go if you spit on the Bible we’ve discovered. One by one people approached the Bible, spit on the open pages and left hurriedly. Then, a young girl approached the now spit covered Bible. She knelt, wiped away the spit with her dress and kissed the Bible. The soldier pointed his gun and pulled the trigger.
What a brave story of heroism and love for the Lord Jesus. This young girl looked at the situation before here and realized she could not acquiesce to the man with the gun. Perhaps she realized, more than anyone else in the room that the real power didn’t lie with the gun. The real power was in God’s word and she could not deny that.
The prophet Jeremiah encountered a somewhat similar situation. He was called to be God’s messenger during a very perilous economic, political and social time in his nation. Not only that, but God’s Word was looked down upon by many in the nation and he was but a youngster.
We live in a similar time today. We’re told by society at all levels that our message is, at best, no different than any other religious message. We are accused of being out of touch, intolerant, judgmental, and a whole litany of other adjectives. The reality is, sometimes we deserve those accusations because we use God’s word and a weapon rather than the source of love, hope and grace it was intended to be.
The question for each of us today is the same as it was for Jeremiah and for the young girl who literally had a gun pointed to her head. Will you stand for God’s word when your classmates ridicule you; when you are confronted by those antagonistic to Jesus; when it would be far easier to stay quiet, but more prudent to speak the truth in love? Jesus says you can’t serve two masters. Who will you serve today?
PRAYER: Father God, I’d like to think that I would take a bullet in the head before denying you, but I confess my weakness. While no one has pointed a gun at my head, there have been times I should have spoken up but did not. Forgive me for my fear. Help me to trust you completely. Amen.
Built with Grace 