…Before your head hits the pillow… How committed are we? In the last few nights I posted about being on the team of Christ and then about what type of player we are on that team. I am going to continue down that same vein tonight. This morning in church our pastor preached from Luke 14:25-35. In this chapter we are taught that if we want to be a follower of Christ that we must love Him above all else. We must love him more than we love our spouse, our children, our grandchildren, our parents, or our pets. Jesus must be absolutely first in our lives if we truly want to follow Him. He says that we must love Him more than we love our own life. We need to place Christ at the center of our lives if we are going to commit to this Christian life and once we commit, we must be so committed that we NEVER quit. A person who wants to be the best on his or her athletic team has to commit. They must push through the pain if they want to be the best. The same is true in our commitment to Christ. We cannot nor should we assume that when we become committed to Christ that things will be easy. The opposite may likely be true. We must be willing to go through hardships. We must be willing to let God put us through tests so that we can better serve Him. We must be willing to stand out in a crowd, to not go along with the masses if we truly want to serve our Lord. As our pastor was preaching this morning he told us of the historical documentation of the Apostle Peter’s death. He said that history tells us that Peter was commanded to deny Christ. When he refused history tells us that the enemies of Christ crucified his wife and told him that they would let her go free if he just denounced Christ. As you know, Peter had denied Christ before, but in the end, he loved Christ above all. When he refused to reject his Lord, history tells us that Peter was crucified, and that by his own request, he was crucified upside down for he did not feel worthy of dying in the same way that his Savior had. It appears that Jesus actually prophesied Peter’s death in the words of John 21:18 – The truth is, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go. Then I decided to look into how the other Disciples of Christ died. Only one lived out his life but he lived it in exile and that was John. Some even say that although he was not killed by it, he was actually placed into boiling oil which likely scarred him for life. Stephen, although not one of the original disciples was the first recorded martyr when he was stoned to death. Acts 2:12 tells us that James was the next to die for Christ when King Herod Agrippa killed him with a sword. History tells us that Andrew was also crucified for preaching Christ to the Scythians and Thracians. Some historians believe that Thomas, who we often call “doubting Thomas” did not doubt in the end as he was stabbed with pine spears, tortured with red-hot plates and buried alive. It is said that the Jews tortured Philip in Phrygia and then later crucified him. We are also told that Matthew the tax collector was beheaded in Nad-Davar. Nathaniel also known as Bartholomew may have been flayed and then crucified. James who was appointed to be the head of the church in Jerusalem was said to have been thrown from the top of the Temple and when he did not yet die was beaten to death with a fuller’s club. It is said that Simon the Zealot was crucified by the governor of Syria and Judas Thaddeus may have been beaten to death with sticks by pagan priests in Mesopotamia. Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ and though his death has less reliable sources may have been stoned while hanging on a cross. And Paul, who wrote more books of the New Testament than any other was beheaded by Nero in Rome. How each of these men died is really not as important as the fact that they were willing to die for Christ. They embodied the message of Luke 14 by loving Jesus above ALL! I can only imagine the reunion each must have had when they entered heaven and were united with their Savior and their friend, Jesus. I am confident that Jesus with pride in His eyes proclaimed to each, “Well done though good and faithful servant!” So as I reflect on the commitment of these founders of the Christian faith, I am inspired to become closer to my Lord, to learn more, to love more, and to be more committed so if the time ever comes that I may be called upon to show the world how great my love is for my Lord, that I will not waver, that I will not quit, that I have prepared well, and will die with my eyes affixed on heaven, waiting for my own reunion with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 03:00:00 +0000
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