40 Days of Life | Day 13 | Testimony
Words are powerful, but sometimes the power of the message is in the messenger. A while back I saw quote on a nicknack and wondered how that quote made it onto an item that was mass produced. Then I saw the name under the quote and the impact of the words shifted. Some words may not communicate significance unless you know the story behind them.
When a six-year-old says, “I wanted this my whole life” it’s cute, but those same words coming from an elderly person gives reason for reflection. No one cares if “I have a dream” but if… you get the idea.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is someone whose words carry weight. He was a man who lived and died what he believed. He gave his life to represent truth, to fight injustice and inhumanity. His words are challenging, flowing from a life of integrity.
“Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy to the scornful and unbelieving. We poured forth unending streams of grace. But the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was hardly ever heard. Where were those truths which impelled the early church to institute the catechumenate, which enabled a strict watch to be kept over the frontier between the church and the world, and afforded adequate protection for costly grace? What had happened to all those warnings of Luther’s against preaching the gospel in such a manner as to make men rest secure in their ungodly lives?” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
Read. Repeat. One more time. It sinks in. Bonhoeffer witnessed the church succumb to culture. Many would not stand for truth or fight injustice. He did. What did they rest secure in? He was secure in Christ alone. When did they stray from the narrow way? He paved the way for the few who feared God more than man.
Where does your “humanitarian sentiment” lead you?
40 Days of Life: Day 12 - Value of Life
40 Days of Life: Day 10 - Real Belief
40 Days of Life: Day 9 - Love or Truth
40 Days of Life: Day 8 - Let Your Light Shine
40 Days of Life: Day 7 - Jan the Van
40 Days of Life: Day 6 - The More You Know
40 Days of Life: Day 4 - What choice?
40 Days of Life: Day 3 - Life is a Gift
40 Days of Life: Day 2 - Are You Prepared?
40 Days of Life: Day 1 - Life and Dignity
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash