“You are lying!” Lieutenant Grecu screamed at the imprisoned pastor, Richard Wurmbrand. “Tell us the truth about your Christian activities and about others in your church! Here, you must write out for me all the rules that you have broken in the prison.”
Wurmbrand sat and quietly
wrote down all of the prison rules he had broken. When he was finished,
he added one final paragraph: “I have never spoken against the
Communists. I am a disciple of Christ,
who has given us love for our enemies. I understand them and pray for
their conversion so that they will become my brothers in the Faith.” He
signed his name boldly at the bottom.
Grecu read the “declaration.” His face softened as he got to the
end,
overwhelmed that Wurmbrand could write about loving a government that
had arrested and tortured him. “This love,” he said. “That is one of
your Christian commandments that no one can keep.”
“It’s not a matter of keeping a commandment,” Richard replied
gently. “When I became a Christian it was as if I had been reborn,
with a new character full of love. Just as only water can flow from a
spring,
only love can come from a loving heart.”
In the following months, Wurmbrand spoke of Christ’s love many more times to Lieutenant Grecu, who eventually prayed to receive Christ!
Declaring your faith in Christ is simply saying it loud enough for
others to hear and receive it. It doesn’t mean you’re obnoxious. It
doesn’t mean you must be extraordinarily extroverted. It simply means
you are an open book for others to read about Jesus Christ. And you’re
willing to read it aloud when necessary. We are often hesitant in our
witness for Christ. We don’t wish to offend. We don’t want to be ill
received. And yet our taciturn testimony may cause us to miss the
opportunity to lead someone to faith in Christ. What would it mean for
you to declare your faith in Christ today? To whom should you define and
deliver God’s message of grace?
This is an excerpt from the wonderful book Extreme Devotion. To purchase your copy, please click here and visit The Voice of the Martyrs bookstore.
