when it costs everything

We hear from St Justin Martyr today in A Year with the Church Fathers. And with a name like Justin Martyr, it's not hard to guess how he died. In the picture above, we see Pere Jacques Hamel. He was a priest in France who was recently beheaded by ISIS while saying mass.

This is why Jesus says those chilling words: "Don't be afraid of those who can only kill the body... instead, fear God who can destroy both the body and the soul." That sounds like pretty harsh advice. But you've probably seen movies where the good guys catch a bad guy and try to pump him for information. They beat him up, and threaten to kill him unless he gives them the name of his boss. And what does he do? He fears those who are beating on him. But he fears his boss more. So he doesn't give them the name. He'd rather die by their hands than through the long, slow, painful process his boss would use to kill him.

Grisly, right? But in that moment, he's GOING to be afraid of those who are right there beating on him. And in order to keep it straight in his head, he has to remember that the one he works for can do worse things to him than those who are right there in his face.

If we ever do face the ultimate test, and someone threatens to kill us because of our faith, we have a choice to make in that moment. We want to make the choice out of love and gratitude for all that He's done for us. And when we're in a calm, peaceful place, that's the reason that comes to mind. But in the heat of the moment, when ISIS is coming through the door with guns and swords and bombs, and we have to decide what we really believe... God knows that telling us to fear Him rather than fear them might make the difference in the moment.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The love of Him is the fulfillment of wisdom. May we move from one to the other.

God, thanks for giving us a really big reason to face down our really big challenges.