Willing to Die

by Hugh DeLong

"Then Paul answered, 'What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus'" (Acts 21:13).

Paul, the last of the apostles selected by Jesus, was to join the rest of the apostles in dying while serving the Lord. According to traditional thought, only John died of natural causes; the others were martyred.

The other disciples feared for his life. He had given up his life to serve the Lord. Such was the teaching of Jesus:

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it'" (Matthew 16:24-25).

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).

"He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal" (John 12:25).

Paul had earlier made up his mind that ‘to die is gain’ (Philippians 1:21). Thus, he was willing to give himself completely to serving Jesus and the gospel. While Paul escaped such martyrdom on this occasion, he was later martyred.

Do you think his life was wasted? Did he die in vain? Did he live in vain? We don’t necessarily have to be a martyr, but we have to be willing to die to self, to crucify self, to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1-2). Does that describe our dedication to living for Christ?