I was visiting with someone the other day and the topic turned to why I was so sure that Christ was resurrected from the dead. Well, I was not an eyewitness to the event, but one thing that I know for sure is the testimony of those who were eyewitnesses. Lay aside their verbal testimony, what strikes me as the most revealing testimony is the testimony of their lives. All of the disciples (with the exception of Judas Iscariot who committed suicide and John who was banished to Patmos) gave their lives for this fact: That Jesus was God and that He died and rose from the dead.
I am a passionate person; however, I will not give my life for a lie. I may lie about something, but when push comes to shove, I will not die for it. At the last moment I will recant and admit the truth. I have to believe that you would do the same thing. If this is true, then, why would we think that the disciples would be any different? If they were furthering a lie, they would not have given their lives for such lie. They would have also recanted.
Their testimony with their lives is a significant testimony that is hard to overlook. But, these disciples were not the only ones who gave their lives. Through the centuries, thousands of men and women did the same thing as recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs and church history. They lived their lives for God and they gave their lives for the Truth.
Without the threat of death here in the United States for our religious beliefs, it may be easy for many of us to say that we would die for Jesus. However, what God may want from us now may not be a willingness to die for Him, but a willingness to live for Him. Romans 12:1-2 is a passage that encourages us all to be living sacrifices for God.
With this truth in mind, let's not only be willing to die for Him but live for Him as well! What do you think?
Blessings -
John
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