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The Legacy of Faith

 


Before us so many saints have gone before. So many have suffered and born their crosses through the ages leaving us an example. These brothers and sisters who went before refused to abandon the Lord and His Way, not matter the threat, The Hope of Resurrection helping them carry on, “But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11:35-38).   


I wonder if we are ready to join their number? Do we have it in us to leave a legacy of such dedication and discipleship? So many of us have had an easy walk in comparison to those in the world we are persecuted, jailed, and even killed for being followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. Would we be able to endure prison? The lash? And other inventions of torture? Will the Twenty First Century contain names people will say if there is a 22nd Century that those saints of the 21st Anon Domini faced what the ancestors did and held fast to Their Lord? 


To suffer is not a competition. I only hope that we can be such a shining example to other Christians. To remind them that to be dejected by the world is a badge of honor! That Jesus Our God says, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.” (John 15:19-21). 


The Legacy of Faith is not one of ease, but a cross. That Jesus did not promise we would always be liked by our culture and world, He and His Apostles actually promise the opposite. You have to remember the children of doom, and the devils hate that you have the promise of Resurrection! They hate that you have a secure salvation in Christ and do not have to work to get to heaven; that Jesus nailed all your sins to the cross! So we retain the enmity of the world because our legacy is eternal. You may suffer, but your story under the Lord’s Tree is everlasting! This world and all those who throw spears and cause us tears will fade away!  But we shall be with Holy Trinity for eternity where there will be no more tears, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:8). Amen. 


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