Bible
Study: Romans 4, 13 to 18. And Luke 12, 8 to 12.
The word
of Jesus in our Gospel passage this morning are words of consolation for us in
moments of persecution. There are times it appears to be more profitable to
deny Christ than to profess faith in him. Jesus says: “everyone who
acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the
angels of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels
of God.”
In the
wake of the Boko Haram attacks in the northern part of this country a few years
ago, the story was told about a particular Christian family that was visited by
these terrorists and when asked whether they believed in Christ, the head of the
family shouted: “NO!” And they were spared.
Moments
like this are times of testing where we get to know the extent of our faith. Today
we celebrate the memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, a classic example of one
who refused to deny Christ in the face of persecution. Even while he was
sentenced to feeding by lions in Rome and some powerful friends tried to “help”
him escape, he resisted saying “I am the wheat of the Lord to be ground by the
teeth of the wild beasts to become the pure bread of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is a
saying that life is not worth living unless you find the one thing for which
you are prepared to die for. Ignatius found the one thing and he willingly went
along to die for it. He refused to deny his faith even when it seemed as though
God had abandoned him to the mouth of lions, even when it seemed as though God
was powerless and silent.
Are you
experiencing something similar? Does things look as if your prayers are not
been heard or acted upon? Do you feel like giving up? Are you being brought
before kings and other powerful forces to defend your faith? Fear Not! Just
know that no matter what happens, God is always with you.
He may
close the mouth of the lions as he did in the case of Daniel, he may decide to
walk with you in the midst of the fire as he did with Shedrack, Meschak and
Abegnego but even if he doesn’t, even if he allows the lions to crush you to
pieces as with Ignatius of Antioch, he will never stop being God and your soul
which is more important than your body will never perish.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, I thank you for bringing me to the end of another week, help me to grow
deeper in my faith that I may never deny you regardless of whatever life throws
at me. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy weekend.
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