A few years ago, my house was burgled. Thank God no one was home at the time, and apart from the kids' Chinese New Year ang-pows and 2 cameras, there wasn't (there still isn't) anything valuable in the house to cart off. There was a security guard-post 3 doors away, and the back alley was sealed off by a very high fence which was locked all the time. Well, that didn't deter the thief. Some time after that, a neighbor down the block got slashed in the abdomen by intruders who pushed their way into the house as the wife was gardening. So our efficient RA beefed up the security; kudos to them. Yet just recently about a month back, my neighbor's house by the corner was broken into. The intruders were so smart they cut the wires to the alarm system and hacked down the front door. But the alarm still went off, and that scared them. Their son was the only person in then but he slept thru it all upstairs; thankfully their room doors were locked and he was unharmed. Like someone commented, we all have either been victims ourselves or know someone who has been a victim of a house break-in, snatch-theft, mugger, or worse. So we lock our cars, bullet-proof the windows (if we are that rich), install alarms, CCTVs and multiple locks all over the house, carry umbrellas, pepper sprays and whatever, take up self-defense martial arts, pay for guards to patrol our housing area, endure the inconvenience of boom gates and blocked access roads around the neighborhood ...and still feel unsafe, knowing that at the end of the day, although all these deterrents are good, they are only a prevention at best, never a guarantee of safety. Evil can and does strike unexpectedly all the time.
Funny, how we can be ever so concerned over the safety of our person, property and possessions, yet we aren't bothered with something even more important than all that. Jesus said,"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."(Matthew 10:28) We fear man so much but we thumb our noses at Almighty God, the One who actually determines whether we will even wake up tomorrow morning. We spend our hard-earned money on all sorts of gadgets to ensure our physical protection but refuse the free gift of our soul's salvation, which God in His grace and mercy extended to us through Jesus Christ. We try our hardest to preserve our limited lives on this earth, yet ignore the eternity of heaven and hell. And we are supposedly the most intelligent species on this planet.
Jim Elliot, missionary to the Auca (Waodani)tribe of Ecuador, said "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose". In 1955 together with 4 other young men, he ventured into uncharted jungle territory, attempting to reach out to an isolated tribe reputed to be the fiercest in the Amazon, one which had never been conquered or colonized, known for their violence, against both their own people and outsiders who entered their territory.(Awqa in Quecha language actually means savage) The team air-dropped gifts into the village and 4 months later in 1956, finally landed and set up camp by a river. But within 5 days, they were all speared dead by the tribe members. Apparently the Christians had guns but they didn't use them in retaliation. Many would deem these matyrs too idealistic, dumb even. They practically 'asked' for it, knowing well the risks and foolhardiness of their actions. But they were a different breed of men of a different mind-set with totally different priorities. They gave their lives away for a cause beyond themselves. They didn't bother to defend themselves because they already knew the secret - human lives aren't secured or protected by man-made means. Jim Elliot talked of a life that can't be lost, even though his body can be, and indeed was, killed off. He trusted his Maker's promise that they who believe in Jesus Christ "will live even though they die" (John 11:25)
That's a fantastic incredulous promise. No wonder many people can't and/or won't believe it. Jim Elliot and his friends didn't come back from the dead (I venture they are already having a party with God) but the One they believed in did, 2013 years ago. Though they never saw Jesus, living in the modern 20th century, they believed Him. Jim's entry in his college journal read, " Lord, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like You, Lord Jesus." How presumptuous we are to think that our life is our own. How vain our efforts to cling onto what we actually cannot keep safe. Yet to what end these missionaries' death? History records that a widow and a sister of the men (Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint) went back into the jungle to reach out again to the tribe, even living with them. The result? - the conversion of many, including some of the very men who murdered their loved ones. Was it worth it? Jim Elliot and his kind thought so. He went all the way to his cross, just like the One he called Lord. Salvation of souls mattered more to him than safety of self.
We might well ask what's the big deal of Jesus dying on the cross? The big deal is the cross is about your life and mine. If we can place such a big deal on the safety of our material well-being, shouldn't it be an even bigger deal to seek the salvation of our souls? The worst thing that man can do is kill the physical body, but that's no big deal for those like Jim Elliot and company who know whom they believe has delivered them from death into everlasting life through the cross of Jesus Christ.
So what am I going to do in these dangerous times that we live in? My world may not be exactly the Amazon jungle, though it certainly qualifies as a concrete jungle. What's more, it sure feels like there are many 'savages' lurking around ever quick to raise deadly weapons to steal, kill and destroy what I hold dear. I could spend my days moaning, complaining and worrying about the safety of self and family. I could barricade myself behind all sorts of protective devices. But I don't want and I don't need to live in fear, though all around me, there is indeed much to fear. I know after doing all I can do to be wise and take precautions, the fact of the matter is whilst no one and nothing can guarantee my safety, there is One who has guaranteed my salvation, which is by far the only important thing that matters when I face death, as we all must one day anyway. Thus I can leave my life in God's hands, for in my salvation through Christ, I am already safe as safe can be. And that means I can sleep in peace, knowing all is well with my soul.
"Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it." - Luke 17:33
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