WOULD I DIE FOR THIS?

WOULD I DIE FOR THIS?

(This is a “classic” devotional presented previously)

Acts 7:57-60

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

           I am shocked when I look into my own heart and discover how little of what we now refer to as Christianity I would die for! Before you paint me as a heretic, please understand that, in my opinion, there is much too much of Christianity that isn’t. Much of it is man-made. So it was with Judaism when Jesus walked the earth.

Matt 23:16-17

16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

           If Stephen had not died for his faith he most assuredly would have lived for it. It is painful to see that much of what we are packaging to sell to our congregants is not bread. Often the things we hold most sacred are not sacred at all and would not greatly damage Christianity if they were eliminated. Perhaps a purified faith would once again attract the attention of our wandering youth who are, in spite of first glances, desperately searching for something worth dying for. What they seem to be telling us by their “who cares” attitude is that what we have offered doesn’t ultimately matter. We offer them pizza and parties but in their heart they want more.

James 1:27

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Dear Lord, I want a faith worth living for and, if necessary, worth dying for. Help me to know the difference between good – better – and best. AMEN