Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Aug 2, 2007 11:14:25 GMT -5
October 5, 2006
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed… (Heb. 12:4).
I spend a lot of time reading about and praying for the underground Church, those courageous and precious giants of the faith who daily risk their lives to proclaim what we so freely write and speak about here in this country. It humbles me to realize the great price so many pay for what we often take for granted.
I love what I do—writing, speaking, teaching the Word of God. What a privilege! And yet I ask myself if I would be as willing to do these things if I knew that at any moment I could be arrested, tortured, even killed for proclaiming my faith. I would like to think I would, particularly since I know that very possibility could one day become a reality for all of us, even here in America. Understanding that fact gives me an entirely new perspective and appreciation for our current freedom to “write the vision…and make it plain.” And then I am reminded, in light of eternity, that all my books and magazine articles put together mean nothing compared to one small page of hand-copied scriptures, hidden away in a humble shack where a handful of faithful believers gather, whenever they are able, to pray and worship together and to encourage one another with the words written on that one page—words that, in essence, have been written in blood.
We “have not yet resisted to bloodshed,” as have so many of our fellow believers in other countries, but as the time draws short and the persecution increases, we know that could change. May that knowledge challenge us to value the gift God has given us, as well as each word we write, for those words may one day be written in red ink….
(C) KATHI MACIAS
www.kathimacias.com
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed… (Heb. 12:4).
I spend a lot of time reading about and praying for the underground Church, those courageous and precious giants of the faith who daily risk their lives to proclaim what we so freely write and speak about here in this country. It humbles me to realize the great price so many pay for what we often take for granted.
I love what I do—writing, speaking, teaching the Word of God. What a privilege! And yet I ask myself if I would be as willing to do these things if I knew that at any moment I could be arrested, tortured, even killed for proclaiming my faith. I would like to think I would, particularly since I know that very possibility could one day become a reality for all of us, even here in America. Understanding that fact gives me an entirely new perspective and appreciation for our current freedom to “write the vision…and make it plain.” And then I am reminded, in light of eternity, that all my books and magazine articles put together mean nothing compared to one small page of hand-copied scriptures, hidden away in a humble shack where a handful of faithful believers gather, whenever they are able, to pray and worship together and to encourage one another with the words written on that one page—words that, in essence, have been written in blood.
We “have not yet resisted to bloodshed,” as have so many of our fellow believers in other countries, but as the time draws short and the persecution increases, we know that could change. May that knowledge challenge us to value the gift God has given us, as well as each word we write, for those words may one day be written in red ink….
(C) KATHI MACIAS
www.kathimacias.com