ARE YOU READY?

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Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Matt. 16:24

I just finished a remarkable novel by Randy Alcorn, entitled Safely Home. While it is a work of fiction, it is based on real-life situations faced by Chinese Christians as well as other persecuted Christians worldwide. A fictional character in the book states, “If you are looking for a religion centered around yourself ... I must agree that Christianity is a poor choice.” Oh, that we would all grasp this! It is ALL about our LORD Jesus Christ, and His is the way of suffering—for a moment—in preparation for a glorious eternity.

Religious persecution is real. For many of us it seems far away, but the Bible warns us all that if we are followers of Christ, we will endure hardships. Things are changing in my home country of America, and as Christians we need to be alert.

With all this on my heart, I was reading one of the final chapters in the novel when I felt compelled to pray. My silent cry was, “Father, if you choose to allow me the honor of dying as a martyr for Your Name’s sake, please prepare me well now.” And as soon as these radical words were out, I had to laugh at myself because I wanted to take every one of them back! Thoughts like, “Um, God, I mean it, but maybe we could go slowly?” popped into my fickle mind.

But seriously, I want to be ready for whatever He wants from me. Do you?



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