Danielनमुना

As we live by the Spirit in fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, the Lord is our first love and priority in all things.

And consequently, there will come times when that first love will be tested.

This is exactly what happened to Daniel when his enemies succeeded in passing a law stating that everyone who didn’t worship the emperor Darius would be executed.

In this moment of testing, Daniel is an example to us. He did not waver, compromise, or take expedient action (by keeping a low profile), but maintained his practice of praying three times each day; Daniel 6:10.

So Daniel was thrown to the lions.

But the Lord saved him from the lions.

The early Christians followed Daniel’s example and some were martyred – many were taken to the Roman amphitheaters to be attacked and killed by lions.

Justyn Martyr became a Christian after watching the brutal execution of Christians in Rome. He went on to become a leading second-century theologian and apologist before he was killed for his faith.

We know the names of many others: Polycarp, Carpus and Papylus, Perpetua.

The point is; that they decided to pay the ultimate price of death. Because Christ had paid that price to save them, they loved Him above everything else.

Brothers and sisters let us also resolve in our hearts never to compromise our love for Christ.

Let us be ready and available today to speak about our love and faith for Christ and testify that he is our first love.

Even today many believers are being martyred. They chose to accept death rather than renounce their faith.