James 2:21-24 (21)Was not our father Abraham considered
righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? (22)You
see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was
made complete by what he did. (23)And the scripture was fulfilled that
says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and
he was called God’s friend. (24)You see that a person is considered
righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. (NIV)
Almaad was born in the Middle East to a set of parents who
were American Christians. All his life, he had seen Christians persecuted for
the sake of Christ. His parents had been missionaries, who worked as teachers
at a small village school when he was a boy. However, due to the heavy
persecution of Christians, they were thrown into prison, after barely escaping
a massacre, and later killed in front of the public square. Almaad, at the age
of seven, was left to be raised by a nice Christian couple who had known his
parents and worked closely with them in the mission field.
Even though Almaad was raised around other Christians, who
were happy to risk their lives for the sake of the gospel, the love for Christ
never become a part of him. He believed that it was all a waste of time, energy
and livelihood. After all, he did not want anything to do with a God who was
responsible for his parents’ death. Therefore, when he became of age, he left
the couple who had raised him and headed to the United States to attend college
upon receiving a student exchange scholarship from a prestigious university.
The Christian couple, now older, continued
to pray for Almaad that he would accept Jesus as his personal Savior and one
day become a warrior for Him. Upon attending the university, Almaad noticed
that there were Christians on campus who met together to have weekly Bible
study. He was annoyed at the fact that they could take such joy in God even if
that meant dying. One day, Almaad decided to go to a Bible study, upon invitation
of one of his classmates, just to see what all the fuss was about concerning a
historical figure.
His classmate and the other members
in the group greeted Almaad and opened the floor for anyone to give testimonies
and praise reports. After listening to several students talk about things that
God had done for them, Almaad, in his anger, spoke about the killing of his
parents. He became inflamed with their joy of praises to someone he considered
as a murderous God. Everyone present became quiet. All of a sudden, someone
broke the silence. “My parents were killed too,” the voice from the back of the
room said. Everyone turned around to see who was speaking. Almaad followed the
sound of the voice until he could see as well.
Seated in the back was a young man
who had a Middle Eastern accent, but spoke fluent English. “My parents were
part of a missionary team,” he said, “who taught Christ to various religious
groups who had never heard the message of the Gospel. One day, my parents were
teaching a school of children, when men in masks came inside with guns and
started shooting everyone. The children were screaming, crying and ran to get
away. However, not everyone was successful. There was another class of
students, which was the one that I was in, where the teachers were also
missionaries and heard the chaos that was taking place. They tried to get all
of us to get down on the floor, but it was a little too late because the men
came in our class and started shooting as well. The missionaries, however, were
able to hide a few of us in a closet where we stayed until the men left;
although, the missionaries were taken prisoner and later shot in the public
square.”
Almaad was quiet as tears rolled
down his face as the young man spoke. Almaad asked the young man the name of
the missionaries. The young man responded with the names of Almaad’s parents. The
young man looked at Almaad and said, “If it had not been for the missionaries,
I too would be dead.” Almaad then realized that his parents were the ones who
saved the young man’s life, as well as others, and had not died in vain.
The Apostle James lets us know that
just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son as a sign of faith to
God, there are times in life when we will have to sacrifice for the sake of
Christ as well. Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is
gain. (NIV) We are not able to make such sacrifices on our own, but it
is only through faith in God, that will allow us to lay down our lives for the
sake of Him. All sacrifices may not mean death, but will include the giving of
oneself in other ways.
God considers us righteous when we
are willing to give Him complete reign over our lives. The gift that He offers
us is full of peace, love, joy and a future to be lived with Him. Yes, there
will be times when you may feel like throwing in the towel because life has
become more than what you bargained for. However, God never gave up on us and
our faith in Him is what will make us strong until the end.
Jesus came to earth to make the
ultimate sacrifice for mankind. He paid a debt that we owed and could have
never paid. His sacrifice gave us the right to the tree of life for all who
willingly accept it. All we have to do is have the faith that it takes to be an
overcomer. Allow your faith to move you into your God-given destiny of
sacrifice though service to Him.
The Book of James: 30 Days of Devotion for Men by K L Rich available on Amazon.com.
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