Resist !

Friday April 16, 2021

Resist !

We must obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29

It was by faith that Moses... preferred to be mistreated with the people of God rather than to have momentarily the enjoyment of sin... It was by faith that he left Egypt without fear of wrath of the king... Hebrews 11: 24-27

Watching the film about the life of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, well known for his book Discipleship : The Price of Grace, I was deeply moved. This man, in the prime of his life, was imprisoned and then hanged naked for daring to oppose the Hitler regime.

If our Lord has paid a high price for our grace with the cross, once we have received it, it obliges us to a life of integrity, obedience, allegiance to our King and can lead us sometimes to "civil disobedience" and the sacrifice of our life.

The Bible enjoins us to submit to the authorities of our country and even to pray for them (Romans 13.1 ; 1 Timothy 2.1-2). The complication arises when these authorities want to take the place of God. When I hear words like "The republic is your hope, your providence and your security" or "The law of the republic is superior to the law of God", I tremble with indignation !

Historically, leaders of nations have overstepped the bounds God had given them. They sought to establish the cult of their personality, organize genocides, justify segregation, legalize human trafficking... This is how "resistance fighters" rose up in the name of their conscience and their belief.

"If our Lord has paid a high price for our grace with the cross, once we have received it, it obliges us to a life of allegiance to our King."

I think :

. to those midwives who "feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt told them : they let the children live." (Exodus 1.17)

. to Daniel's friends who "did not hesitate to break the king's order and risk their lives rather than... worship another god" (Daniel 3.28).

. to Peter, who continued to preach the gospel despite the formal ban, claiming that obedience to God is first.

What about these "heroes of the faith", who have littered the history of the Church, these Christians thrown to the beasts because they refused to worship Caesar, these Huguenots who "resisted", reading secretly the Bible and of which Marie Durand (locked up for 38 years in the tower of Constance) is the symbol ?

What about those women and men around the world who are forced to place themselves in an illegal position today in order to live their faith and stay in tune with biblical moral principles ?

Questions for today

Are we going, under pressure, for a "momentary enjoyment", to bend the knee in front of another god, "to recant" our faith, to deny our convictions ?

Catherine Gotte Avdjian

Source (The Thought of the Day)