Devotions- Wednesday, Sept 3

The stakes are high. Life (lives) is on the line. My reading this morning brought this message to me.

First, from Acts 12, I read of Herod's encounter with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They come to ask his aid. He puts on his royal robes, sits on his throne. When he is asserted as a god, not a man, "an angel of the Lord smote him." He is eaten by worms and dies.

Second, in John 8, Jesus is in another argument with the leaders of the religious council. He speaks of his relationship with God, of his identity as the Messiah. To them, this is heresy. They take up stones to throw at him. Jesus hides himself and goes out of the temple.

People are dying over this stuff.

There are places in this world where one might still be in danger of physical death, as a result of their faith. We should acknowledge that speaking God's Word in our own culture places you at risk of rejection and scorn. It is possible for life to be taken away as a result of one's devotion to God. What sticks with me is the thought that life evades those who have not heard God's invitation.

I am thinking of the lonely, the outcast, those dejected. I am thinking of those who are left to worry that no one (no one including no God) loves them or cares about them. Life can be taken away; life can also never be fully realized. Many are dying, because they have never heard the good news of Christ's salvation.

The stakes are high.

We should never allow ourselves to forget that we have been given a precious gift. We have been entrusted with the Words of Life. Let us give thanks for this gift. And on the ready to share this gift with those around us. Without our intervention, many of them will continue to die.