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Saint Luke tells us about a time when Jesus walked among us, that a group of people were
seriously considering following Him. Jesus, knowing the thoughts in their hearts, made
it very plain: if they wanted to be His disciple, it would not be child's play.
Jesus wasn't calling to a Sunday School picnic or an exciting dress parade; Jesus never hid
the fact that it would cost to be His disciple. And when He said "cost," He meant big-time.
Listen to Jesus spell out the grounds for discipleship: "And he said to them all, If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
Luke 9:23
By the word "cross," He means die. Many faded quickly into the woodwork when they heard
that. But there were others who stepped forward, pledged their life to Him, and consequently
eventually faced the cross and death for Jesus.
That was a long time ago, some 2000 years ago, but let me tell you something that happened
less than 60 days ago. It's a report by the Voice of the Christian Martyrs, and they write
"At least twelve Christians were killed on Christmas Eve church attacks in northern Nigeria,
and fifteen others were murdered in their sleep on December 28. Boco Hara militants
are suspected in both cases. On Christmas Eve, gunmen opened fire during a time of prayer
at the Church of Christ in Nation's Agyra Village, Yobo Province. Killed five worshippers
and also the pastor. The attackers also set the church on fire and several other Christians
were seriously injured. On the same night a deacon and five other Christians were killed
at the First Baptist Church at Mada Guro Borno State. Four days later, as attackers invaded
the homes of Christians in Musari, outside Mada Guro, and slit the throats of fifteen
Christians during the early morning hours. A number of Christians had moved to the Musari
area, to flee violence from the Mada Guri. This is the third consecutive year that Christians
in the north have been violently attacked during the Christmas season. Churches in northern
Nigeria were nearly empty on Christmas day."
Doesn't that make your heart ache? Well I guess so. When I read that report the Holy
Spirit spoke to my heart as plain as day and said, Harold, would you go through that for
Jesus?
My knee-jerk reaction was, Why yes, of course I would. But after further reflection I wondered.
Would I really? If push came to shove, would I stand true to Christ? I hope so.
And then I thought, how deep does my dedication to Jesus really run? And how about you, my
Christian friend?
I preach about being sold out to Christ. I preach about self-denial. I preach about giving
at least 10% of my income to Christ, and people get their noses out of joint pretty fast.
So, what do we do? Well, first we pray for those Christians, for those Christmas day
martyrs and their families, and then we pray for ourself. Then we really face the fact
that Jesus is calling us to do the same thing, to take up His cross, a cross of self-denial.
Also a cross of death.
God bless the martyrs. And God
help us.