Living Outside the Comfortable Silent Path

Acts 24:16

So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

Paul spoke these words when he was giving an account of himself to his followers.  He was under attack from his enemies at the time.  He wanted his followers to know that he was under attack because he was leading a life that conflicted with how his attackers wanted to live their lives.  Paul may have been the first to warn us about living our lives according to political correctness and not according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

How many of us take the comfortable silent path of "tolerance" in order to avoid being accused of being a fervent believer in Jesus Christ, devoted to His service?  Unfortunately, this is exactly where the world wants us.  Much of what we see, hear and read that comes from the world is designed to desensitize us to evil and to move us away from the holy life style to which Jesus Christ calls us.  When we give in to what the world wants to hear, we give in to Satan.  We diminish our testimony that goes out to those who need to hear the truth.

It has become all too common to hear of the slaughter of Christians around the world.  In most of these heinous cases, the martyrs are asked to deny Christ.  Those who proclaim their loyalty to their Savior are subsequently beheaded or otherwise mercilessly killed.  What is remarkable is how many continue to proclaim their faith in the face of the slaughter.  Be certain that the faith of the first victim works to strengthen all the way to the last victim.  One after another they lift and strengthen each other. 

We will be held accountable for our testimony.  Are we strengthening one another through the expression of our faith?  What we stand for does make a difference.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to keep us mindful of the truths that You have revealed to us through the life of Your Son, Jesus, and through the writings in Your Holy Word.  Strengthen us, Lord, to stand up to the ridicule and hatred of the world.  In the flesh, we are destined to fall for the tricks of the enemy.  Teach us, Lord, to call on and to rely on the Holy Spirit to help us to live in the spirit of the One who dwells within us.  May it be the passion of our hearts to please You and not the world.  We ask all these things in the name of the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ.