Iunno... I've had this on my mind for awhile. And it comes partly from that Voice of the Martyrs devotional I've had for two years. Once in a while I pick it up and read a story. They are amazing.
While it's a good book, I'm not writing about it. I just mention it, because
it has numerous stories in there of people who gave up the lives of their loved
ones for the Word. I've just been thinking. I would give my life for the Gospel and all those I care about in a second-no second thoughts. If I was told: "Recant, or he/she dies." What would my response be?
There's been a shift in the media. On the good'ol cowboy and star trek tv shows and movies-the heroes were always those who put themselves in danger or died for those they loved. Under pain of torture they persevered, and never gave up the secret code or combination for the lock.
Now, it's completely different. Take a look at Spiderman or Batman and you see that the villains don't just go after the superhero-they go after those they care about. And these stories I've been reading about in real life are just as scary. Instead of threatening someone with a cattle prod, the bad guys put a noose around your sister's neck. Most of these people never give in, but could I do the same?
Without trying to sound metaphysical, you think maybe the devil got the picture? Maybe it finally occurred to him that true Christians won't break under the pressure of pain. Pain just isn't relevant-we, as Christians, learn and gain from it. So he's changed his tactics and goes after those we love. Has he found our weak spot?
Can you say with absolute certainty that if some Muslim takes you and one of your siblings hostage, and tells you to recant or that sibling dies-would you have the strength to stand? Would it even be right to sacrifice the life of a loved one-God understands right?
In less dramatic ways I think it's happening all the time. Sometimes we're on good terms with ourselves-thinking we know what we believe and why we believe it. Then we see somebody we know and/or love struggling with something terrible, and it causes us to think again. It's the indirect assaults that are the hardest to deal with.
In war, it's not the full on frontal assaults that are the most deadly-they can be foreseen and prepared for. It's the sneaky blindsiding to our allies and friends which cause the most damage.
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3 comments:
I haven't really thought about something like that, but I believe that when the time comes that God will give you the strength to accept it and the words to say- just like He always does. I'm not saying it won't be hard...but...
it's incomprehendible, isn't it?
That's good Aaron. I have thought the same things... the devil loves to work from the inside, especially the inside of the church.
You know, maybe you've just stumbled upon the secret of the universe. For example, maybe there's no cure for cancer because it's out of our reach - the devil controls it. People pray day and night for their loved one to heal and if they don't, they question God. Perhaps it isn't the will of God that cancer victims die but the will of evil.
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