I have been reading a book by Tom Doyle called “Killing Christians”. The only word that comes to mind is “WOW”. As I have been reading the stories of people coming to Christ and thereby threatened of physical death, it has made me really look at my relationship with Jesus. The stories of the people in the book, I realize, are experiencing a relationship with Jesus that is so much more real than mine. I know Jesus lives in me and I know that if I were to die I would be with Him, I just don’t depend on Him for everything. I live in a bubble, I really don’t need to rely on Jesus to meet my needs, I live in America. Our poor are not poor compared to the world, we all are rich.
Jesus said in, Matthew19:24 “I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” The eye of the needle was a gate entering into the city. It was a people gate and not that big. A camel could go through, but it would have to get on its knees and then crawl through. Rich people CAN buy their way out of discomfort. We CAN make our lives comfortable and miss depending on God. I mean most of us as Americans still think our food comes from groceries stores. We are blessed beyond measure and I sometimes think the blessings of God have become our biggest curse. We rob ourselves of intimacy with God because of His blessings on our country. I want to be dependent, I want to have no fear, I want to experience what so many people around the world are experiencing with Jesus. Would I die for Jesus? I hope I would, I hope it does not come down to that in America. I would love to see an awakening happen in our country and for us to be a shinning city on a hill. I hope I don’t have to die for Jesus anytime soon, but I do want to live for Him now!
I want to encourage you.
Mark Roberts
