The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests and to offer the fat and the blood of sacrifices.
They will come into my temple, where they will offer sacrifices at my altar and lead others in worship.
Ezekiel 44:15-16
I was a young man and it has been many years ago but I remember it well, I made a serious and sobering commitment to the Lord that I would remain faithful to Him even if no one else did.
That may sound like the arrogance of youth, but it really was not. I had come to realize how much my faith was dependent on the faith of those around me. I was part of a very "faith filled" fellowship of believers who encouraged me to walk closely with Jesus, but I came to the watershed moment of knowing that in the End I will stand alone before God. I will not be able to justify myself because of the faith of those in my church.
It is a great temptation to associate with those who have great faith and are walking with Jesus instead of walking with Him yourself. You can tell yourself that you must be alright. Just look at all the strong believers around you.
So just for a moment imagine that every follower of Jesus you know turns away from Him. Would you still follow Jesus or would you follow them?
When the moment of martyrdom comes you will have an individual choice. Will you follow Jesus even to death or will you follow others and save your life here on earth?
As important as group worship really is it is more important to be ready to be the only one left who is still faithful to God!
"Lord, give me the strength to be faithful to You even if I am the last Christian on earth. And help me be ready at any moment to join the ranks of the Martyrs. Amen."
No comments:
Post a Comment