Your Daily Devotional for October 27, 2006

 

October 27, 2006

 

 

Are You Ready?

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”

 

 

2 Timothy 4:5-7

 

 

Every four years, the world watches as some of the premier athletes from across the world compete in what is known as the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games originated with the Greeks. One of the races the Greeks had in their Olympic Games was unique in that each competitor was to run a certain distance with a lit torch. The winner was not the runner who finished first but the runner who finished with his torch still lit. It was not simply the man who finished, but the man who finished well.

 

In our verses today, we see the Apostle Paul coming to the end of his life. He was in prison for the second time, suffering persecution for preaching the Gospel of Christ. This was Paul’s last challenge to Timothy, his son in the faith. It was probably given a few days before his execution. If there were ever a man who could teach us about finishing well, it would be the Apostle Paul.

 

How can we learn from Paul’s example and finish in a way that is pleasing to the Lord? Philippians 2:17 says, “Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.” Paul was ready to be offered for Christ’s sake for two reasons. First, he was saved. He knew that when he died, he would meet Christ in Heaven. What a wonderful consolation! Just as Paul was unafraid to meet death, we too, as Christians, can find peace in the thought of death.

 

Paul was also ready to be offered because he was committed. In Philippians 1:21 he says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” In Philippians 3:14 we see that Paul was committed to his call to live for Christ.  He said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul pressed forward for Christ, and at the end of his race, he could say that he was ready to die for Christ. Paul’s commitment to the Lord was so great that he was willing to die for Him, because he had first committed to live for Him.

One of the key forerunners of the Reformation was Bohemian John Huss. He devoted himself to Scripture and taught that Christ, not the pope, was head of the Church. In 1414, Huss was called before the Council of Constance to defend his beliefs. He was convicted of heresy and sentenced to be burned at the stake unless he recanted. But Huss stood firm. On the day of his martyrdom he said: “God is my witness that the evidence against me is false. In the truth of the Gospel I have written, taught, and preached, today I will gladly die.” As the flames consumed him, it is said that he joyfully sang a hymn—he was ready to be offered.

Just as John Huss and the Apostle Paul were ready and willing to die for the faith, we can be ready as well! Are you ready? You can be ready through salvation and commitment. Are you committed to Christ? If He wanted you to give your life for Him, would you? Many have been martyred for Christ. Will you live for Him? Only when we live for Christ will we be ready to die for Christ.

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