Daily Devotional for Tuesday, September 19

A True Martyr

“For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her,” Mark 6:17.

Many Christians run around today talking about the persecution they face as Christians. Do you think you face persecution? People may challenge your faith, challenge bad behavior done in the name of faith, or they may even laugh at you. However, few of us really know what it is like to be persecuted in this country. On the other hand, John the Baptist did. First, he was jailed, then he was killed. Simply put, John was killed because he spoke out against the marriage of Herod to Herodias, who had been his brother’s wife.

The fact that John worried Herod said something about John. In fact, John was quite well known and drew large crowds. Despite this, John the Baptist never lost sight of what his mission in life was. He told us that in the book of John. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John not only literally gave his life to serve his Lord but had quite literally given up his life even before then. When Jesus would refer later to the need for His disciples to pick up their cross and follow Him, John the Baptist would be a great illustration of what it means to give it all up for Jesus.

So, no, most of us are not being persecuted for our faith and most of us will never be martyrs. The truth is that for the majority of Christians our faith really does not impact our everyday lives very much. If that is true for you, maybe you need to pick up your cross and follow Jesus.

JUST A THOUGHT: Some give all; some give nothing. Which one are you?

Wally Fry